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Heartbeat, and the Asia session is quiet: 34.88 hours since the last entry, every G8 currency's median 1h move sits inside 11bp this cycle (NZD +10.42bp and AUD +6.66bp the firmest, USD -3.96bp the softest), with no unexplained move, no captured print, and no speech to explain. The macro backdrop since Wednesday's entry has settled: the July FOMC minutes released Wednesday showed several officials favored rate hikes due to persistent inflation risks, though the lack of explicit forward guidance left the dollar rangebound as markets look ahead to the Jackson Hole Symposium (Aug 27–29).

On the Hormuz watch item, tensions remain elevated but an operational equilibrium has capped systemic fallout: while Iran maintains the strait is closed and Trump escalated rhetoric claiming control of the waterway, reports indicate a protected southern corridor along Oman is moving roughly 10 million barrels per day, blunting immediate energy shock contagion across oil markets and safe havens.

In Australia, Thursday's July labor force report showed unemployment rising to 4.5% with net job losses of 15.8k, cooling near-term RBA tightening expectations, though AUD is tracking modestly firmer alongside NZD in light Asian session flows. Nothing here makes the measured quantitative signals wrong about the regime; price discovery is orderly and no official intervention is distorting markets.

No active overrides exist to keep or lift. Next scheduled risk: UK retail sales at 06:00 UTC (forecast -0.5% m/m), followed by French, German, and UK flash PMIs through the European morning.