US Fed chairperson Janet Yellen has expressed optimism in a rate hike before the end of the year. Japan might implement negative rates if the economy falls further. UK's property market has begun to show weakness following the Brexit event, as reported in Borneo Post.

Fundamental outlook US new home sales rose 654,000 in July, the best recorded this year, after a revised 582,000 gains recorded in June. Existing home sales grew 5.39 million in July, lower than 5.57 million recorded previously.

US jobless claims for the week ended August 20 was at 261,000, in line with forecast. Core durable goods excluding transport equipment, advanced 1.5 per cent in July, the best reported since January after a 0.4 per cent decline.

US preliminary GDP for the second quarter (2Q) grew 1.1 per cent, matching forecast. During the Jackson Hole meeting held during the previous weekend, Fed chair Yellen voiced optimism of an imminent rate hike while tabs are kept on the recovery of payrolls and inflation.

The Bank of Japan's Haruhiko Kuroda said he would not rule out implementing more negative rates to stimulate loans from banks. Tokyo's core consumer prices were below forecast, contracting 0.4 per cent in August compared with a year ago.

German Ifo business survey was at 106.2 index in August, the lowest recorded in the last six months following 108.3 recorded in July. Markit reported that Germany's manufacturing index for August steadied at 53.6 while the country's consumer index rose 10.02 in August, in line with expectations.

The eurozone's manufacturing index stood at 51.8 in August while the services index rose to 53.1, in line with forecast.

UK's mortgage approvals for July dropped to 37,700, the lowest reported this year after 39,800 recorded in June.

The effects of Brexit has begun to stave off property investors from UK's estates. UK estimates for 2Q GDP was at 0.6 per cent, unchanged from the previous forecast. In another report, preliminary business investment on a quarterly basis ended June rose 0.5 per cent after a revised 0.6 per cent decline in March.

Technical forecast US dollar/Japanese yen rose on Friday night after Yellen's comments. This week, we reckoned the trend might advance to 103 for a quick sentiment pull-up. However, going below 100 benchmarks could indicate fundamental changes which could trigger a new downward trend, if the bulls are countered.

Euro/US dollar has shown temporary bearish trend during Friday's close. This week, the trend is more likely to trade lower in the range of 1.105 to 1.135 regions. The dollar would be affected by the opinions of US policymakers. Trade cautiously and practice risk control.

British pound/US dollar topped off last week at 1.327 as the dollar recovered. This week, we forecast the trend would be supported at 1.295 and it might trade in a tight range beneath 1.327 resistances. The market would probably swing for one or two weeks before we see a break out that could confirm its trend.

Disclaimer: This article was written for general information only. No liability by the writer or newspapers. Dar Wong is a registered fund manager in Singapore with 27 years of trading experience in global Derivatives & FX markets. He can be reached at dar@pwforex.com.