London Open Briefing: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
London opens with a risk-off tone, following declines in Asian and US equity futures. The JP225 fell 2.00%, USTEC was down 0.70%, and the US500 declined 0.35%. XAUUSD also saw a -0.33% move. The NZDUSD is notably weaker by -0.42%, with NZD being the weakest currency over 24 hours at -0.54%. The risk meter currently sits at -0.07.
Earlier, New Zealand’s RBNZ Non-Resident Debt Holdings registered 56.9%, a +0.4% surprise over the 56.7% consensus. For the London session, UK Labour Productivity y/y and q/q are due at 08:30 UTC. Later, ECB Executive Board Member Lane is scheduled to speak at 11:45 UTC.
North American data includes Canadian CMHC Housing Starts at 12:15 UTC, with a consensus of 259.535K. A series of US releases will follow at 12:30 UTC and 13:15 UTC, encompassing Export Price Index m/m, Housing Starts m/m, Import Price Index m/m, and Fed Industrial Production m/m. Positioning data shows a crowd shift on XAUUSD of 8pt toward long, while NZDUSD saw a crowd flip from 56% long to 51% short. Retail books indicate disagreement on GBPJPY by 26 points and on EURJPY by 31 points.
Traders will likely monitor the cluster of US economic data releases this afternoon.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Biggest moves since the previous session | JP225 -2.00%, USTEC -0.70%, NZDUSD -0.42% |
| Currency strength, 24h | USD strongest at +0.31%, NZD weakest at -0.54% |
| Risk meter | -0.07 (mildly risk-off) |
Scheduled this session (High and Medium impact)
| Time | Ccy | Event | Impact | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 UTC | GBP | Labour Productivity y/y | Medium | – |
| 08:30 UTC | GBP | Labour Productivity q/q | Medium | – |
| 11:45 UTC | EUR | ECB Executive Board Member Lane Speech | Medium | – |
| 12:15 UTC | CAD | CMHC Housing Starts | Medium | 259.535K |
| 12:30 UTC | USD | Export Price Index m/m | Medium | -1.4% |
| 12:30 UTC | USD | Housing Starts m/m | Medium | 8.8% |
| 12:30 UTC | USD | Import Price Index m/m | Medium | -0.1% |
| 13:15 UTC | USD | Fed Industrial Production m/m | Medium | 0.1% |
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.