Three central banks — the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan — deliver interest rate decisions this week, alongside Canadian inflation data and US retail sales. The lineup, scheduled between September 14 and 20, sets up sharp two-way moves across major USD pairs.
Markets face a stacked week of central bank decisions and top-tier data releases between September 14 and 20, 2026, with the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan all delivering interest rate decisions inside the same five trading days. Each interest rate event carries the potential to move the dollar and the major pairs traded against it.
Canada inflation opens the week
Canada's Consumer Price Index lands first, on Monday, September 14 at 12:30 UTC. Core CPI is forecast to rise to 2.5% year-over-year from 2.3% previously, with the prior monthly reading at 0.5%. A hotter print would fuel bets on tighter Bank of Canada policy and lift the Canadian dollar against the greenback, while a softer number could send USD/CAD toward fresh weekly highs.
US data sets up the Fed decision
US retail sales follow on Wednesday, September 16 at 12:30 UTC, just hours before the Federal Reserve's rate announcement. Consensus expects a rebound to 0.3% month-over-month after a prior contraction of -0.6%, with core retail sales seen at 0.5% versus -0.3% before. The Fed then announces its rate decision at 18:00 UTC, with the current rate standing at 3.75% ahead of the meeting, followed by updated economic projections and a press conference from Chair Jerome Powell at 18:30 UTC. Traders will watch the dot plot and Powell's guidance on the balance between inflation and labor-market risks, a combination expected to produce sharp swings across equities, gold and major dollar pairs.
BoE and BoJ close out the week
The Bank of England follows on Thursday, September 17 at 11:00 UTC, with its rate also at 3.75%. The prior vote split stood at three hikes, six unchanged and zero cuts among Monetary Policy Committee members, and the tone of that split and the accompanying minutes matter more than the headline rate itself for GBP/USD direction. The Bank of Japan closes the week on Friday, September 18 at 02:30 UTC, tentative, with a press conference at 06:30 UTC. The BoJ holds its rate at 1.0% as it continues to exit ultra-loose policy, and any signal on further normalization or quantitative tightening could trigger unwinding in yen-carry trades and sharp moves in USD/JPY.
Source: MQL5 Traders' Blogs
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