Sydney Open Briefing: Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Sydney traders begin the session with a mixed overnight picture, though a slight risk-on tone persists with the Risk Meter at +0.18. Gold, XAUUSD, advanced +0.51%, and the UK100 rose +0.31%. Conversely, the JP225 declined -0.23%, USDCHF fell -0.22%, USDCAD was down -0.21%, and the US30 retreated -0.19%. In the last 24 hours, the New Zealand Dollar was the strongest currency, up +0.22%, followed by the Australian Dollar, up +0.11%.

The session begins with the release of New Zealand’s Employment Change q/q data, which landed at Tue 22:45 UTC. Attention will quickly shift to Australia’s inflation figures, scheduled for Wed 01:30 UTC. These include the Monthly CPI Indicator y/y, with a consensus of 3.3% following a previous 3.8%. Also due are the CPI q/q, CPI m/m with a consensus of 0.9% from a previous -0.1%, and the Trimmed Mean CPI m/m, which has a consensus of 0.4% after its previous 0.3%.

Crowd positioning data shows shifts in key pairs. The book on AUDUSD moved 13pt toward long over the past 24 hours. On EURGBP, the book flipped from 52% short to 53% long, while on USDJPY, it moved from 56% short to 50% long.

The Australian CPI releases at 01:30 UTC will be a primary focus for the session.

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.