By: Jeffrey Roach, PhD, Chief Economist & Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Chief Fixed Income Strategist

It seems like we just can’t stop talking about central banks. And this week will be no different, with at least 15 central bank meetings planned, some more important than others, of course. While the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting will likely take top billing in the financial media, it’s the Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting on Tuesday that could be the real game changer. With inflationary pressures still above target in Japan, the BOJ may finally be ready to take interest rates out of negative territory for the first time since 2016. If true, the era of free money will finally be over, which could have an impact on U.S. markets.

Central bankers from the U.S. to Australia and seemingly everywhere in between will be meeting this week to discuss monetary policy. A total of 15 meetings will take place this week, highlighted by the Fed, the Bank of England (BOE) and the BOJ. After years of central banks tightening monetary policy by raising interest rates, markets (and consumers) are waiting for interest rates to come back down. Unfortunately, despite falling inflationary pressures, it may be a few more months until central bankers are ready to start lowering interest rates. That doesn’t mean these meetings won’t be worth watching; we think they will be, especially the Fed and BOJ meetings.

Read the full commentary here: weekly-market-commentary-03182024