Week ahead, 21–25 September 2026: flash PMIs, the SNB, Norges Bank, the Riksbank and Australian jobs

The week of 21 September has three clusters of events: the September flash PMIs on Wednesday, decisions from the Swiss National Bank, Norges Bank and the Riksbank on Thursday, and labour and retail data from Australia and Canada. Japan's markets are shut for three days of public holidays. The dates and times below come from each institution's own calendar; where a time wasn't published, only the date is given.

Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 September: Japan's holidays

The Japan Exchange Group's markets are closed on Monday 21 September (Respect for the Aged Day), Tuesday 22 September (Citizens' Holiday) and Wednesday 23 September (Autumnal Equinox Day), though derivatives holiday trading is open on all three days. Yen pairs keep trading in the global market, but with Tokyo's stock market shut, the Asian session can be quieter than usual. The Bank of Japan raised its rate to 1.25% on 18 September (report). Forex market hours covers how the sessions overlap.

On Tuesday 22 September the Reserve Bank of Australia's calendar lists Michele Bullock at a CEDA event in Sydney at 1:00 pm AEST.

Wednesday 23 September: flash PMIs

S&P Global's release calendar lists the flash PMIs as follows (times are UTC, with the local time in brackets):

• Australia: 23:00 on 22 September (09:00 AEST on the 23rd)
• France: 07:15 (09:15 CEST)
• Germany: 07:30 (09:30 CEST)
• Eurozone: 08:00 (10:00 CEST)
• United Kingdom: 08:30 (09:30 BST)
• United States: 13:45 (09:45 EDT)
• Japan: 00:30 on Thursday 24 September (09:30 JST), a day later because of the holiday

In August the US composite flash PMI was 56.0, the eurozone's 52.1 and the UK's 52.5. PMIs explained covers what the numbers mean.

Thursday 24 September: central banks, jobs and retail

• Swiss National Bank: quarterly monetary policy assessment, with the policy rate at 0% (preview)
• Norges Bank: policy rate at 4.25%, with new forecasts in Monetary Policy Report 3/26 (preview)
• Riksbank: policy rate at 1.75%. The board meets in Gothenburg on 23 September and publishes its decision on 24 September
• Australia: the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes August labour force figures. July's unemployment rate was 4.5%
• Canada: Statistics Canada publishes July retail trade. Its advance estimate was a fall of 0.8%
• United States: the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes second-quarter international transactions, including the current account, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (trade balance and current account explained), and weekly jobless claims are out as on every Thursday (last week's report)

What isn't on this week's calendar

The Bureau of Economic Analysis schedule lists the third estimate of second-quarter GDP and August personal income and outlays, the release that contains the PCE price index, for Wednesday 30 September. Anyone expecting PCE inflation on Friday 25 September should check their calendar (July's PCE report).

The week after

• 29 September: the Reserve Bank of Australia announces its decision at 2:30 pm AEST, with the cash rate at 4.35%
• 30 September: the ABS publishes August CPI, and the BEA publishes GDP and personal income and outlays
• 1 October: the Bank of Japan publishes the Summary of Opinions from its September meeting

How to read an economic calendar explains actual, forecast, previous and impact, and the FTC economic calendar lists every release with its time.