London Open Briefing: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

The London session opens with notable moves across markets. Gold, XAUUSD, has advanced +2.10%, while the Japanese equity index, JP225, gained +0.72%. In contrast, NZDUSD has declined -0.47%. The overall risk sentiment is slightly positive, with the RISK METER registering +0.06. The Australian Dollar is the strongest currency over the past 24 hours, up +0.35%, while the US Dollar is weaker by -0.22% and the Canadian Dollar by -0.31%.

Recent data releases show strength in the Eurozone. Spain’s S&P Global Services PMI (EUR) printed at 58.3, significantly above the consensus of 52.2. France’s Industrial Production m/m (EUR) also surprised positively at -0.1% against a -0.6% consensus. South Africa’s S&P Global PMI (ZAR) came in at 50.3, slightly above expectations. The US Trade Balance (USD) was reported at -73.3B. Ahead in the European session, traders will monitor Italy S&P Global Services PMI (EUR) at 07:45 UTC, followed by France S&P Global Services PMI (EUR) and Germany S&P Global Services PMI (EUR) shortly after.

Retail positioning shows a notable shift on NZDUSD, with the crowd flipping from 54% long to 56% short in the last 24 hours. The crowd also shifted 9 points toward short on GBPJPY. Retail books show a 27-point disagreement on NZDUSD and a 23-point disagreement on AUDUSD. Later in the day, high-impact US data includes ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (USD) at 12:15 UTC, and both S&P Global Services PMI (USD) and ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (USD) at 13:45 UTC and 14:00 UTC respectively.

Traders will closely watch the ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (USD) for insights into the US labor market.

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.