Central bankers take centre stage

Central bankers dominate the coming week, with policy announcements queued from the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve. In the US, the Fed—led by Kevin Warsh—has stayed tightly focused on the present, and benign inflation data this month is seen making a rate increase this week unlikely. The BoE is expected to hold borrowing costs at 3.75% on Thursday, supported by improved inflation and labour-market data showing unemployment unchanged and wage growth cooling. Looking further ahead, uncertainty rises as US-Iran tit-for-tat conflict resumes, with markets expecting at least one rate rise before year-end.