Dollar is mildly firmer against other major currencies, except Sterling and Kiwi. But in spite of mild strength, the greenback is staying in range. The highly anticipated Jackson Hole symposium will start today but the focus will be on Fed chair Janet Yellen's speech tomorrow. There are speculations that based on other recent hawkish Fedspeaks, Yellen might signal that Fed is ready for another hike and paint an optimistic outlook. In that case, we will likely see dollar bulls fight back. But the tone of Yellen's message is far from being certain. And traders will stay cautious ahead of the speech, with dollar treading water.
Another focus in the financial markets this week is oil prices. WTI retreated after hitting hitting 48.75 last week and is now trading soft at around 46.80. The recovery attempt was knocked down by inventory data yesterday. Released yesterday, US commercial stockpiles of crude oil and refined products rose 6.6.m barrels in the week ended August 19. That totaled 1.4b barrels which was a record. The overdone the news that Iran is set to join an OPEC meeting to discuss coordinated actions.
Elsewhere, Japan corporate service price index rose 0.4% yoy in July versus expectation of 0.1% yoy. German Ifo business climate will be the main focus in European session and is expected to show improvement in August. US will release jobless claims and durable goods orders.