Diplomatic advances fail to prevent Stocks correction— North American Mid-Week Market Update

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Log in to our mid-week North American Markets overview where we look at the NA Indices and currencies.

This week has started on a decent geopolitical background: The war in Ukraine might be getting closer to a truce.

Indeed, the US regained some strength and credibility on the diplomatic front after successively hosting Russia’s Putin, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and a coalition of EU leaders on the same day.

Donald Trump sent some contradicting diplomatic messages at the beginning of his mandate, but looking back, it seems that the publisher of “The Art of the Deal” had more in mind: The US President keeps surprising public opinion despite still making headlines on some controversies.

However, the ongoing geopolitical progress has also been followed by some huge profit-taking in US Equities, particularly in the Tech sector.

(This has also been seen in the well-performing Metals and Cryptocurrencies, but these are not the subject of today’s mid-week review.)

We will look at the strength of North American currencies making a short-term comeback and how NA Indices have suffered from the ongoing profit-taking.

With the ISM Services PMIs approaching fast, Markets will get further information on US data: The scary PPI data from last Thursday took some confidence from Markets, as participants started to believe that tariffs wouldn’t impact the data at all.

Tuesday, August 12th’s CPI data created a feeling of complacency in the market, but all of this is being taken back.

Read More: Nasdaq leads downside as US indices continue to slide

North-American Indices Performance

North American Top Indices performance since last Monday – August 20, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Most indices and assets are unchanged except for the huge rebalancing seen from the Nasdaq towards the Dow Jones.

You can access our latest Dow Analysis on that aspect right here.

Dollar Index 8H Chart

US Dollar Index 8H Chart, August 20, 2025 – Source: TradingView

An invitation to check our latest analysis of the Dollar Index, currently consolidating and slowly grinding above the 98.00 handle.

Read More: The US Dollar (DXY) pauses at 98.00 as markets await clarity

US Dollar Mid-Week Performance vs Majors

USD vs other Majors, August 20, 2025 - Source: TradingView.

Since last Monday, FX currencies have been very volatile, a normal phenomenon when we look back at all the major data that was released (particularly for the US) – This has led to some particular weakness in antipodean currencies (AUD and NZD).

This follows a trend of the year with both Pacific currencies struggling a bit against their counterparts as their export-oriented economies tend to get hurt a bit more by tariffs.

The US Dollar is also back to some decent performance since the beginning of the week. Only the CHF is up against the Dollar since Monday.

The NZD is still the biggest lagger against the USD – You can access our latest analysis of the New Zealand Dollar against the Greenback right here.

CAD Mid-Week Performance vs Majors

CAD vs other Majors, August 6, 2025 - Source: TradingView.

The Loonie is still struggling against most majors, appreciating only against the even weaker antipodean currencies.

Canadian Dollar traders are still looking for good reasons to buy the CAD amid still weak Canadian data.

Intraday Technical Levels for the USD/CAD

USDCAD 4H Chart, August 20, 2025 – Source: TradingView

The USD caught some decent momentum against its neighbour yet again, coming right back to its August 1st highs.

Reactions here will be key to monitor, but with the momentum accumulated, there is a decent probability that Markets push the pair higher.

If they fail to do so, the reversal should be pretty strong as that would imply the formation of a double top.

Levels to place on your charts:

Resistance Levels:

• Immediate resistance at Aug Highs (1.3870)
• 1.3950 psychological level and Key pivot
• May Highs 1.40185

Support Levels:

• 1.38 Major resistance turned Pivot
• 1.3740 Previous pivot turned Support
• Support Zone 1.3675 to 1.3686

US and Canada Economic Calendar for the Rest of the Week

US and Canadian Data for the rest of the week, MarketPulse Economic Calendar

FED's Waller recently concluded his speech with no comments on the Economic outlook, so nothing really new – A reminder that he is trying to become the new FED Chair for Powell's replacement approaching in May 2026. You can access his key remarks right here.

The FOMC Minutes are about to get released and are typically a non-event, but still, be cautious for any particular switch in Stance.

Don't forget tomorrow's PMI data for the US releasing at 9:45 A.M.
CAD traders will need to focus on the Retail Sales data at 8:30 on Friday.

For the rest, the key Jackson Hole Symposium is about to begin, and with the much-anticipated Powell speech on Friday at 10:00 A.M. ET, traders are bracing strongly: Except for the struggling NZD, FX movement relatively subdued.

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