Iran foreign ministry spokesman Baghaei denied US media reports that Washington held informal contact with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps via Iraqi Kurdistan, calling the story fabricated and a psychological operation intended to sow division. He said Iranian institutions have shown unprecedented unity on war-and-peace issues over the past six months and that decisions follow institutional processes. Axios earlier reported that Trump administration officials bypassed Iranian negotiators a

Onshore yuan closed at 6.7382 per U.S. dollar at 16:30 on Aug 17, up 39 pips from the previous trading session.

Monday — China releases July retail sales, industrial production (above‑scale) and total electricity consumption; PBOC overnight reverse repo operations scheduled Aug 17–19; Canada July CPI; US NY Fed manufacturing and NAHB housing index. Bessent warned this week of “unprecedented” US economic measures against Iran. Earnings: Geely. Tuesday — UK three‑month ILO unemployment and July jobless claims; Germany and eurozone ZEW surveys; US ADP payrolls, housing starts, building permits, import PPI, industrial production, pending home‑sales index. Earnings: China Unicom, Xiaomi (results call), Baidu (results call). Wednesday — US API and EIA crude inventories; UK July CPI and RPI; eurozone June current account and final July CPI. ECB President Lagarde speaks at WEF. Earnings: Kuaishou (results call), ZTO, Kingsoft, HKEX, Weibo. Thursday — China: July Swift RMB share of global payments and one‑year LPR; Australia July unemployment; Germany July PPI; Swiss trade balance; UK CBI industrial orders; US initial jobless claims, Philly Fed index, Conference Board leading indicators, EIA gas stocks. Fed minutes released. Earnings: Ping An, China Telecom, NetEase, Alibaba, AIA, Li‑Ning, Pop Mart, Futu. Friday — UK consumer confidence, July retail sales, public sector net borrowing, Aug services PMI prelim; Japan July core CPI; preliminary Aug manufacturing PMIs for France, Germany, eurozone and UK; Canada June retail sales; US preliminary Aug S&P Global manufacturing and services PMIs; eurozone consumer confidence prelim. Events: Hang Seng index quarterly review results; NYMEX September crude roll. Earnings: ZTE, Sinopec, Beike. Saturday — US Baker Hughes rig count for week to Aug 21.