OCBC’s Christopher Wong notes that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kept the OPR at 2.75% and struck a slightly firmer tone, with growth expected to stay resilient into 2027. The economist still projects an OPR normalisation to 3.00% in January 2027.

Commerzbank highlights that Bank Negara Malaysia kept the OPR at 2.75% but shifted to a more hawkish bias, removing language that policy is "appropriate" and signalling vigilance on cost pressures.

OCBC’s Christopher Wong notes that USD/IDR has pulled back as a softer Dollar and lower UST yields support the Indonesian Rupiah. He highlights Bank Indonesia Governor Destry Damayanti’s emphasis on a stability-first approach, prioritizing Rupiah and macro stability while still supporting growth.

Commerzbank says China’s August Services PMI rebound highlights some resilience in private-sector activity, but weak retail sales, soft inflation and higher unemployment still point to fragile domestic demand.

DBS Group Research economist Chua Han Teng notes that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) held the Overnight Policy Rate at 2.75% while dropping language that the current level is appropriate. DBS expects rates to remain unchanged through 2026 but sees risks tilted towards a one-off policy normalisation.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack wrote that the current monetary policy stance in the Fed is not restrictive, emphasizing that inflation is too high, at an article on LinkedIn. She added that local contact views indicate that “now is the time for the Fed to hike to control inflation.”

ING’s Muhammet Mercan notes the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) has normalised liquidity via weekly repo auctions, bringing effective funding costs down to the 37% policy rate.

Commerzbank’s Commodity Research team, led by Barbara Lambrecht, notes that uncertainty over crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz and conflicting transit data are clouding the outlook for Brent.

Rabobank's Senior Macro Strategist Bas van Geffen expects the European Central Bank (ECB) to hike its deposit rate by 25bp to 2.50% next week and then hold at that level for an extended period.

ING’s Peter Virovacz expects Hungarian industrial production to rebound in July, helping avoid a third-quarter GDP decline despite August headwinds from heatwave-related energy issues.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) economist Claire Fan notes Canada’s labour market lost 42,000 jobs in August, partly reversing earlier gains and leaving modest year-to-date job growth. She emphasizes structural factors like demographics and weaker immigration as key drags.

Commerzbank’s Dr. Christoph Balz notes that the U.S. labor market surprised to the upside in August, with Nonfarm Payrolls and private sector jobs both rising strongly while the unemployment rate held at 4.1%. Wage growth continued to slow.

Nomura’s Global Markets Research team, led by Andrzej Szczepaniak, George Buckley and Josie Anderson, expects the ECB to raise the depo rate by 25bp to 2.50% at the 10 September meeting and then pause.

In a post on Truth Social, United States (US) President Donald Trump welcomed the creation of 162K jobs in August, a figure he described as significantly above expectations.

DBS Group Research expects the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise the deposit facility rate to 2.50%, citing a resilient inflation-growth mix in the Eurozone. The report notes headline inflation has moved further above target, while core pressures remain contained for now.

Commerzbank’s Dr. Christoph Balz expects the Federal Reserve to keep rates unchanged, but highlights a significant risk of another 25 bps hike.

Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said on Friday that monetary policymakers have some discretion over how quickly they bring inflation back to target, while stressing that returning inflation to the target remains imperative.

Commerzbank analysts Norman Liebke and Michael Pfister report that the Bank of Canada kept its policy rate at 2.25% but adopted a more hawkish tone as inflation risks rise from higher energy prices and trade tensions with the US.

Societe Generale strategists note that the Indian Rupee (INR) rallied to its strongest level against the US Dollar (USD) since late June, helped by active RBI intervention and sizeable FX mobilisation flows.

The United States (US) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is set to release the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for August on Friday at 12:30 GMT. 

Commerzbank’s Tatha Ghose highlights a sharp Forint rally after a Bloomberg report suggested the National Bank of Hungary may pause rate cuts on 22 September and consider lowering its inflation target. While unconfirmed, this aligns with the bank’s less dovish August message.

Deutsche Bank reports that US equities, led by the S&P 500, rallied as dovish remarks from Fed Governor Waller offset stronger US data. The S&P 500 logged its best day in nearly a month and moved close to record highs, supported by gains in the Magnificent 7 and easing energy prices.

Danske Research Team highlights that Fed Governor Waller is inclined to keep rates unchanged in September if August inflation shows further progress, but would consider a hike if inflation comes in hot.

The AUD/USD pair gathers strength to near 0.7210 during the early European session on Friday. The US Dollar (USD) weakens against the Australian Dollar (AUD) following Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks.

Sweden Current Account (QoQ): 126.2B (2Q) vs 93.9B

Germany Factory Orders n.s.a. (YoY): 13.1% (July) vs 6.5%

Germany Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) registered at 2.5% above expectations (0.3%) in July

USD/IDR gains ground after two days of losses, trading around 17,670 during the Asian hours on Friday. The currency pair is pushing higher as the US Dollar (USD) holds onto its recent gains after rebounding from intraday losses.

Gold prices fell in India on Friday, according to data compiled by FXStreet.

Japanese Finance Minister (FM) Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that the officials will closely monitoring bond markets with heightened urgency.