Foreign Exchange Market Update

September 17, 2026

United States

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a report on Thursday showing a pullback in its September reading of regional manufacturing activity. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity fell to 37.8 in September after climbing to 47.4 in August, although a positive reading still indicates growth. The pullback by the Philly Fed index came a month after it reached its highest level since hitting 48.8 in April 2021. The decrease in the headline index came amid a steep drop in the employees’ index, which plunged from 27.9 in August to 11.8 in September.

The new orders index showed a much more modest decrease, edging down from 30.1 in August to 29.2 in September, while the shipments index came in unchanged at 27.7. Meanwhile, the report said the prices received index surged from 17.7 in August to 31.3 in September, reaching its highest level since April. The prices index also climbed from 40.9 in August to 48.6 in September. 

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a separate report showing a fall in its reading on regional manufacturing activity in September. However, it still indicated growth. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index slumped from 20.6 in August to 7.6 in September. The pullback by the index came a month after it jumped to its highest level in over four years. 09/17/2026 - 10:36:00 (RTTNews)

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ending on September 12th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 196,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's level of 206,000. With the dip, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting a multi-decade low of 189,000 in the week ending on July 18th.

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 203,250, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 206,000. Continuing claims, reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, also fell by 39,000 to 1.730 million in the week ending on September 5th. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dropped to 1,761,250, a decrease of 16,500 from the previous week's average of 1,777,750. 09/17/2026 - 10:17:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone Inflation Down to 3.2%

Euro traded at 1.1478 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Eurozone inflation accelerated in August. Harmonized inflation rose from 2.9% to 3.2% in July. Meanwhile, core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, eased from 2.5% to 2.4% in July. Monthly, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) moved up 0.4%. Energy prices rose at a faster pace of 14.3% after climbing 10.3%. Non-energy industrial goods prices grew 1.2% following a 0.9% rise. The increase in prices of food, alcohol and tobacco slowed from 1.2% to 1.1%, while services inflation softened from 3.3% to 3.0%. 09/17/2026 - 05:51:00 (RTTNews)

Bank of England Holds Rate Steady at 3.75%

British Pounds traded at 1.3346 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

The Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday amid limited evidence of second-round effects, but further increases in energy prices raise the prospect of a hike in November. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), led by Governor Andrew Bailey, voted 6-3 to maintain the bank rate at 3.75%, the lowest rate since June 2023. 

MPC members Catherine Mann, Megan Greene and Huw Pill called for a quarter-point hike, believing that a proactive increase in the bank rate would help anchor inflation expectations. The MPC voted unanimously to reduce the stock of U.K. government bond purchases held for monetary policy purposes, and financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, to zero. 09/17/2026 - 08:54:00 (RTTNews)