Central bank
A central bank issues a country's or region's currency and sets its monetary policy, especially policy rates. Fed, ECB, BoE, BoJ…
The main central banks traders follow are the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England (BoE), the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Their main mission is price stability; the Fed also has an employment mandate.
Their rate decisions, projections and the tone of their press conferences are among the most volatile events on the calendar. The Fed's FOMC meets eight times a year.
Beyond rates, they have other tools: asset purchases, liquidity operations and currency interventions. Markets are constantly pricing in their next decisions.