President Trump has said for months that he’s made up his mind about who should lead the Federal Reserve. But with each passing week without an announcement, some people close to the process aren’t sure any of his four finalists fully meet his requirements. Today, Jerome Powell’s Fed is expected to hold rates steady after three consecutive cuts. And before the Fed decision, the Bank of Canada is also seen holding steady today.

President Trump has said for months that he’s made up his mind about who should lead the Federal Reserve. But with each passing week without an announcement, some people close to the process aren’t sure any of his four finalists fully meet his requirements.

The difficulty: Trump wants something that may not exist—a new chair who will pursue his demands for lower interest rates while still commanding enough credibility on Wall Street and from his colleagues to deliver them.

The U.S. dollar notched its biggest one-day decline since April’s tariff turmoil after President Trump said he wasn’t concerned about the recent slide in the U.S. currency. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, ended the day near session lows, dropping 1.1%, to its lowest close since April 2022. The dollar has fallen for four straight trading days, losing 2.6%.

Consumer confidence dropped in January to the lowest level recorded by the Conference Board’s survey in more than a decade, a warning sign that a relatively steady stretch of economic data may yet prove fragile. The monthly survey from the Conference Board showed its primary index dropping from 94.2 in December to 84.5 in January, the lowest since 2014.

Manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region remained under pressure from employment trends in January, while overall conditions improved slightly and expectations for future business conditions increased. The Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity's composite manufacturing index rose one percentage point to minus six in January, the Richmond Fed said. Economists polled by WSJ had expected a reading of minus 5. Two of its three component indexes, shipments and new orders increased in January, the Richmond Fed said. The employment index fell. (Dow Jones Newswires)

• Canada’s Carney Tells Trump ‘I Meant What I Said’ in Davos

The Bank of Mexico reiterated its expectation that higher taxes on tobacco and soft drinks, and higher import tariffs on countries without a trade agreement, will have a limited and transitory impact on inflation in 2026. Weakness in the economy, which the central bank expects to grow 1.1% this year, and the appreciation of the Mexican peso, will likely cushion the effect of the trade tariffs, the central bank said in its monetary policy outlook. Effects could also be mitigated by substitute products made in Mexico or in countries with a trade pact. The central bank expects to continue monetary easing this year, but at a more gradual pace than in 2025. (Dow Jones Newswires)

7 a.m.: MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
9:45 a.m.: Bank of Canada interest rate announcement
1 p.m.: ECB Executive Board Member Isabel Schnabel speaks at women's network meeting
2 p.m.: U.S. interest rate decision
2:30 p.m.: Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference

8:30 a.m.: Canada payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies
8:30 a.m.: U.S. international trade in goods and services
8:30 a.m.: U.S. unemployment insurance weekly claims report - initial claims
8:30 a.m.: U.S. revised productivity and costs
9:30 a.m.: ECB’s Piero Cipollone participates in New Year's forum
10 a.m.: U.S. monthly wholesale trade
6:30 p.m.: Japan labor-force survey

• The U.S. economy may be experiencing a sustained pickup in its speed limit, a positive development for the rest of the world as it looks set for its weakest decade of expansion in half a century, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist said.
• The U.S. government’s dramatic immigration restrictions have slowed population growth to the lowest levels since the Covid pandemic, new federal data show.
• President Trump pointed to his support for agriculture during his first visit to a farm-belt state since his administration announced a $12 billion package aimed at steadying the fortunes of struggling American farmers.
• Shares of big insurers plunged after The Wall Street Journal first reported that the Medicare agency was proposing 2027 Medicare insurer rates well below analysts’ expectations.
• European capitals closed ranks to push back against President Trump’s bid to control Greenland, but the Continent’s dependence on the U.S. for security, exports and technology means decoupling from its ally isn’t an option.
• German consumers are feeling slightly less pessimistic amid rising economic and income expectations. The consumer-climate index, published Wednesday by research groups GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, rose to minus 24.1 in its forecast for February 2026, compared with minus 26.9 in January.
• Across China’s economy, consumers aren’t spending enough and producers are making too much. That leaves companies all along the supply chain earning less. Many feel they have no choice but to lower prices to unload inventory, eating into profits.
• Weeks after a U.S. military raid ended the 13-year rule of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelans are living through a whiplash transition that feels less like a democratic dawn and more like an economic takeover.

WSJ Pro Central Banking brings you central banking news, analysis and insights from WSJ’s global team of reporters and editors. This newsletter was compiled by Michael Maloney in New York and Nihad Ahmed in Barcelona.