German chancellor, Angela Merkel, addresses the public on the health crisis
– Coronavirus pandemic situation likely to get more difficult in the coming months
A bit of a warning from Merkel as the virus situation in the region starts to worsen over the past few weeks. Germany is now seeing over 17,000 active cases across the country

Further comments by Merkel
– Hearing that there are hopeful approaches for developing a vaccine
– Says Germany is to spend most of EU funds on existing programs
Merkel laying down some expectations over how life will be over the next few months at the very least for Germany and/or Europe for the most part.

Forex news from the European trading session – 27 August 2020
Headlines:
Markets:
– AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
– European equities a little lower; E-minis down 0.3%

Fed chair Powell will be due to speak at 1310 GMT
Among the key issues that the market will be anticipating in his speech will be on the inflation outlook and how the Fed will go about their future policy decisions based on that.

Some light bids in the dollar, but all eyes stay on Powell
The greenback is up to session highs for the day now, but the move isn’t too extensive for the most part. EUR/USD is down to around 1.1800 and is breaching below its 100-hour moving average as sellers look to seize some near-term control for

China says that there were ‚prohibited drugs‘ found in the beef from John Dee imports
The latest move above adds to earlier duties on barley and other beef products from before, and also the anti-dumping probe on Australian wine last week .

Japanese local media confirms the timing of the press conference
Abe will be speaking to the media and addressing concerns surrounding his health, after having made hospital visits in the past week. This has seen questions raised about his political future amid some criticism surrounding his handling of the virus pandemic as well.

NHC with the latest on Hurricane Laura
Saying that it has strengthened into a major hurricane i.e. Category 3 now, adding that it is rapidly evolving into a catastrophic storm i.e. Category 4. The winds are anticipated to peak at around 130 mph and is expected to make landfall – currently swirling in the gulf of

Italy says no to another lockdown
This is via comments from Italian health minister, Roberto Speranza, speaking to Bloomberg in an interview. As mentioned before, this is all very much a political exercise and public expectations have very well changed from the beginning of the pandemic.

Comments by ECB executive board member, Isabel Schnabel
The crux of negative rates is that it punishes savers at the expense of borrowers. The Schnabel is trying to make relates more towards inflation and stimulating the economy, and to be honest there hasn’t been stellar progression on both fronts.