A look at what is on the board for today
Nothing significant on the board for today, so price action is very much sticking to the start-of-the-week sentiment i.e. .

Latest data released by CBI – 23 August 2021
CBI also notes that there are early signs from the data that suggests that growth in activity may have already peaked, reaffirming the tones set out by the PMI data.

Bundesbank remarks in its latest monthly report

What a turnaround in CAD/JPY sentiment
The pair seemed like it was doomed in Friday trading in Europe but produced a remarkable turnaround into the close to stave off a daily break below the 21 April and 19 July lows at 85.42, ending last week at 85.57; the low hit 84.67 mind you.

Full approval could aid with vaccine hesitancy
A common refrain for US anti-vaxxers is that they want full FDA approval before getting the vaccine. Whether that’s a real reason or flimsy excuse will be put to the test in the near future as the New York Times the agency is planning to give full approval

Total cases now at 51
Optimism that New Zealand can contain its covid outbreak is fading after details of 21 new cases were reported.
PM Jacinda Ardern said it was „very likely“ the nationwide lockdown would be extended beyond Tuesday.

Forex news for North American trading on August 20, 2021
Back on August 11, Fed’s Kaplan said „he was in favor of announcing a plan to taper at the Sept meeting and start tapering in October“.  

The summit was to be held face-to-face
The Jackson Hole Summit will be held virtually instead of face-to-face.  This according to the Kansas City Fed who stages the event annually.  The risk of Covid is leading to the decision.  The scheduled three day event will now be all conducted on August 27th. 

Risk trades are still being pressured towards the end of the week
That follows the more defensive tones seen in US futures so far on the day as well. S&P 500 futures are down 0.4%, Nasdaq futures down 0.3%, Dow futures down 0.4%.

USD/CAD up another 0.7% on the day to 1.2921
Commodity currencies are continuing to be pressured this week and there is little reprieve now across the board when you look at the charts.