ChainThink report: As the tripartite conflict between the U.S., Iran, and Israel enters its third week, ongoing turmoil in energy commodity markets has escalated into a major systemic concern. In short, rising oil prices imply higher inflation, which erodes corporate profitability and ultimately plunges markets into prolonged hardship. Entering next week, seven central banks are set to announce monetary policy decisions, placing markets under extreme uncertainty.

The market’s primary focus remains on the Federal Reserve:

Thursday 02:00, FOMC releases interest rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections (SEP);

Thursday 02:30, Fed Chair Powell holds a post-policy press conference.

Market consensus expects Fed policymakers to hold rates steady at next week’s meeting. However, the latest macro developments have fundamentally altered the Fed’s forward guidance. This Thursday’s meeting will be Powell’s penultimate appearance, leading to expectations of a balanced and cautious tone. Nevertheless, all eyes will be fixed on the SEP and dot plot, as expectations for two rate cuts have diminished following recent oil price surges.

In addition, Tuesday 11:30, RBA announces interest rate decision; Wednesday 21:45, Bank of Canada announces interest rate decision; Thursday TBA, BoJ announces interest rate decision; Thursday 16:30, Swiss National Bank announces interest rate decision; Thursday 20:00, Bank of England announces rate decision and minutes; Thursday 21:15, ECB announces interest rate decision.

These pivotal monetary policy decisions from major global economies will exert unpredictable impacts on capital flows across financial markets.

Key economic data scheduled for release next week includes:

Monday 21:15, U.S. Monthly Industrial Production Rate (February);

Wednesday 04:30, U.S. API Crude Oil Inventory Change for the week ending March 13;

Wednesday 20:30, U.S. PPI Year-over-Year and Month-over-Month (February);

Thursday 20:30, U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending March 14, Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for March;

Concentrated data releases from the U.S. and Eurozone—including February PPI in the U.S., final February CPI in the Eurozone, initial jobless claims data, and the March Philly Fed Manufacturing Index—will draw intense market scrutiny. These indicators will further illuminate inflation transmission pathways, labor market resilience, and momentum in manufacturing recovery, significantly influencing expectations for Fed and ECB policy, as well as global asset pricing dynamics.

Finally, NVIDIA GTC 2026 will take place from March 16 to 19 in San Jose, California:

This is the most anticipated annual event in the AI sector. The keynote address by Jensen Huang will center on full-stack AI advancements, including chips, software, models, and applications, with themes revolving around Physical AI, Agentic AI, AI Factories, Inference, and Accelerated Computing. The market is highly anticipatory of Huang’s promised “game-changing new chip,” potentially featuring a novel architecture optimized for inference and agentic AI—such as a hypothetical LPU (Language Processing Unit) or low-power inference chip akin to Groq’s design—aimed at overcoming critical bottlenecks in token cost, ROI, and energy efficiency.