investingLive Asia-pacific FX news wrap 22 Aug: Slow grind with eyes on Powell

[Forex News]

It's been a mostly slow grind through the session as markets keep their powder dry ahead of Powell's speech at Jackson Hole.

• Implied volatility levels for major assets ahead of Jackson Hole
• Goldman: Powell Likely to Back Cuts but Stops Short of a Clear Signal
• What is rate expectations for the Fed ahead of Powell's speech
• USGS downgrades Drake Passage earthquake to magnitude 7.5 from 8.0
• China says Xi and global leaders to attend SCO summit in Tianjin
• Nvidia CEO comments on China shipments, US talks, and TSMC collaboration
• Fed’s Powell set to reverse key elements of 2020 policy strategy - WSJ
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 7.1321 (vs. estimate at 7.1871)
• Where is nowcasts for growth and inflation ahead of Powell's speech
• OpenAI’s Chief People Officer to step down
• Nvidia Orders Halt to H20 Production After China Directive Against Purchases
• PBOC is expected to set the USD/CNY reference rate at 7.1871 – Reuters estimate
• Jackson Hole Symposium Agenda
• China, Pakistan pledge deeper ties and CPEC upgrade
• Japan nationwide core CPI YY 3.1% vs 3.0% expected (3.3% prior)
• UK GFK Consumer Confidence -17 vs -20 expected (-19 prior)
• Economic Calendar for the day ahead 22 Aug 2025
• Boston Fed’s Collins open to rate cut amid tariff and job risks
• Fed’s Goolsbee says September FOMC is live, economy sending mixed signals
• Rubio announces pause on commercial truck driver visas
• Kim Jong Un praises North Korean troops for overseas operations
• US Supreme Court allows Trump-era cuts to NIH diversity grants
• USD & yields higher while stocks struggle as decent data marginally trims rate cut bets
• California passes redistricting plan to boost Democrats in US House

News throughout the session was on the light side.

In FX, the AUD is leading the majors on the upside, followed by the USD which has continued higher following yesterday's flash PMI data and hawkish Fed commentary. The JPY is the weakest on the session, despite Japanese nationwide core CPI YY printing slightly stronger than expected. The CHF was weaker than the JPY for the majority of the Asia-Pac session though.

For Indices, the clear outperformer has been the CN50 which was up close to 1% at the time of writing. All the other major Indices were close to flat on the session. Some marginal strength and weakness across the board but nothing to get excited about.

Bonds has barely done anything so far, and that is to be expected as markets wait for Powell's speech and what his comments are about the labour market and the rate path moving forward.

For commodities, pretty uneventful for Oil, gold and silver which is all trading marginally lower on the session, with platinum the most exciting mover with a drop of -0.71% at the time of writing.

Overall it's been a fairly quiet session and slow grind for markets, with Powell's speech scheduled for 15:00 BST / 09:00 ET.

Good luck out there today.

It's been an absolute pleasure covering for the always-awesome Eamonn this week.

This article was written by Arno V Venter at investinglive.com.

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