Forex Today – Asian Session: Financial Markets About to Wake Up

What to watch for on Friday, August 26:

The dollar ended Thursday mixed across the currency board, although there was no significant change among the major pairs. Investors were slightly optimistic as macroeconomic figures were upbeat but cautious before central bank governors speak on the sidelines of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

Germany reported that the second quarter Gross Domestic Product increased by 1.7% year-on-year, better than the 1.4% previously estimated. For the quarter, it was up 0.1%, revised from 0% previously. Also, the IFO survey for August showed that the business climate reached 88.5, better than the 86.8 expected. The expectations and assessment of the current situation were better than expected.

The European Central Bank published the minutes of its latest meeting, showing that a “large number” of Governing Council members agreed that it was appropriate to raise official interest rates by 50 basis points, while it was noted that members agreed that it was “appropriate to take further steps on the path of normalizing monetary policy”.

In the United States, the second estimate of GDP for the second quarter was published, which was revised upwards from -0.9% to -0.6%. Additionally, initial jobless claims for the week ending August 19 fell to 243,000, beating market expectations.

The EUR/USD pair briefly traded above parity but was unable to sustain gains and stabilized around 0.9970, unchanged for the third day in a row. GBP/USD remains above 1.1800. The USD/CAD pair is trading around 1.2920, while the Australian dollar was the best performer against the greenback, now trading around 0.6980.

Spot gold has risen for the third day in a row and is currently trading around $1,757 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices, meanwhile, gave up some ground, with WTI trading at $93.10 a barrel.