Markets turn the page on August trading – Market wrap for the North American session - August 29

[Ben Graham]

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for August 29

Today's session brought some extra volatility to complement a fairly dull trading week – Forex Markets had no idea of where to go, with all major pairs rangebound since the weekly open.

Some month-end flows brought Silver and Gold to their highs, and since the end of the London session, Equities have sold off.

Month-end profit-taking is nothing to be afraid off particularly amid ever-growing stock indices, but after a few months of (relative) calm in geopolitics, it seems that tensions are on the rise again.

European powerhouses (France, Germany and the UK) are mad at Iran for not respecting atomic deals (anyone surprised?), Russia and Ukraine get further from a truce, and after reaching deals at the beginning of the month, as the deadlines were coming to their end, some countries like Japan want to review their tariff deals.


September is a traditionally volatile month, but with the current state of things, it seems that this one should be a rollercoaster.

Looking back at August, cryptocurrencies performed very well, the US Dollar rejected its highs (particularly after the month-beginning NFP report), energy commodities took a hit, metals saw big up-swings towards the end of the month, and equities, despite going higher, slowed their pace quite a bit.

Some record highs for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were still reached and the "Sell in May and go away" adage is still not performing!

Read More:

• Markets Weekly Outlook – US Non-Farm Payrolls, US ISM Services PMIs and Eurozone Inflation
• Risk appetite takes a hit as Markets prepare for month-end, Silver breaks yearly highs

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

Cross-Asset Daily Performance, August 29, 2025 – Source: TradingView

Gold and Silver are back on top of charts, with the post-Powell moves gaining traction.

Also, keep an eye on cryptocurrencies falling off their highs as they tend to lead market sentiment.

It will be key to see if the beginning of next month corroborates with this theme, but the general idea could be that Market players are putting back the currency debasing trade on top after rangebound trading in the commodities since the end of June.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

Currency Performance, August 29 – Source: OANDA Labs

The story of the week repeats – FX forex is subdued and charts show rangebound price action.

Month-end flows have hurted both the GBP and the US Dollar, and with metals going up similarly, I wonder if some participants are putting back stagflation trades on – Keep an eye on this for the upcoming month.

A look at Economic data releasing in Monday's session

For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

Markets will be seeing a few pieces of key data for China and Europe throughout the week-end and the beginning of next week.

Keep an eye on data from the Middle Kingdom for Antipodean currencies, while Euro traders will want to watch out for ECB speakers and German PMIs on Monday.

Of course, keep an eye on French government turmoil... (we can't stop making headlines, sorry about that)


Safe Trades and a pleasant week-end!

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