London Open Briefing: Monday, August 17, 2026

The London session opens with a slight risk-on tone, as indicated by the Risk Meter at +0.09. Asian session trading saw NZDUSD gain +0.51% and AUDUSD rise +0.49%, reflecting NZD and AUD as the strongest currencies over the past 24 hours. Gold, XAUUSD, also advanced +0.45%, while the JP225 climbed +0.43%. Conversely, USDCHF declined -0.35%, with USD being the weakest currency. Retail positioning shows notable disagreement on NZDUSD by 29 points and USDCHF by 21 points, suggesting varied sentiment among traders.

Early data releases included Norway’s Goods Trade Balance, which significantly beat expectations at 84.33B against a 66.138B consensus, a +27.5% surprise. Japan’s economic figures were mixed, with Capacity Utilization Rate surprising positively at 4.1% and Industrial Production y/y at 4.9%, but the Tertiary Industry Activity Index m/m came in at -0.2%, missing its 0.6% consensus. Singapore’s Non-Oil Domestic Exports y/y also disappointed, actual 24.2% versus consensus 31.3%.

Looking ahead, a busy 12:30 UTC brings several CAD CPI metrics, including Median CPI y/y with a consensus of 2.0%, and Canada CPI m/m with a consensus of 0.4%. At the same time, the NY Fed Empire State Manufacturing Index is due, with a consensus of 8.4. The BCB Focus Market Report for BRL is at 11:30 UTC.

Traders will be closely watching the comprehensive CAD CPI releases.

Scheduled this session (High and Medium impact)

Times are UTC. This brief describes measured market state and the published schedule. It is not financial advice and nothing in it is a trade recommendation.