Dollar steady with Jackson Hole in sight

For today, all eyes will be on Fed chair Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium and that will come at 1400 GMT (roughly 10 hours from now). The agenda pins Powell down for about 30 minutes as he will deliver opening remarks for the day but everyone will be interested in what he has to say about the Fed outlook before the September FOMC meeting.

The dollar continues to keep steadier on the day, holding its ground after rocking back and forth during the week. EUR/USD continues to keep below parity with the euro itself struggling to get a grip amid soaring energy prices in the region. The ranges today are narrow but the dollar is seen mildly firmer against the commodity currencies at least:

As for Powell’s speech, it is hard to imagine him straying away from their recent messaging. The bottom line is that there is still another set of US jobs report and CPI data to go in the weeks ahead and he will surely keep the door open for the Fed to tighten more aggressively again if need be based on the data. Fed speakers George and Bostic already outlined that yesterday but in the context of this week, the only voice that matters is Powell’s.