Industrial production data and Fed speakers highlight Friday’s calendar

On Friday, September 18, 2026, traders anticipate a busy economic calendar filled with key data releases and Federal Reserve commentary. The agenda includes industrial production figures, speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers, and the weekly Commitments of Traders reports. These releases will shed light on the manufacturing sector's health and provide insights into the Fed's policy outlook as participants prepare for the weekend.

Several important economic indicators will be released throughout the day. At 8:15 AM ET, traders will receive the industrial production data, which tracks the change in total inflation-adjusted output from manufacturers, mines, and utilities. The previous reading was 1.08%, with analysts forecasting a 0.3% monthly increase, up from the previous 0.2%.

At 8:30 AM ET, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Member Bowman will speak, offering potential insights into future monetary policy direction. At 10:45 AM ET, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid will provide additional remarks on economic conditions and policy.

Later in the morning, at 12:00 PM ET, traders will receive the Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count and the U.S. Baker Hughes Total Rig Count, which serve as leading indicators of demand for oil products and activity in the drilling industry. At 2:30 PM ET, the CFTC will release its crude oil speculative positions (136.6K), gold speculative positions (232.0K), Nasdaq 100 speculative positions (20.9K), and S&P 500 speculative positions (-76.0K). These reports offer insights into market sentiment for various asset classes.

Additional data points to be released include the Capacity Utilization Rate (76.4%, previous 76.3%), Manufacturing Output (0.3%, previous 0.2%), the US Leading Index (0.1%, previous 0.2%), Aluminium speculative net positions (-0.3K), Copper speculative positions (92.5K), Silver speculative positions (26.0K), Natural Gas speculative positions (-219.8K), Wheat speculative positions (10.5K), Corn speculative positions (543.0K), and Soybeans speculative positions (273.4K).