The Baker Hughes US oil rig count has increased from 411 to 412. This change reflects increased activity in the oil sector.<\/p>\n
The EUR\/USD reached two-day highs near 1.1820 due to renewed weakness in the US Dollar. GBP\/USD also made gains, surpassing the 1.3600 mark, assisted by profit-taking in the Greenback.<\/p>\n
Gold has surpassed $4,900 per troy ounce, focusing on the $5,000 region as it benefits from a shift in risk sentiment. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are rebounding amid a $2.6 billion liquidation, with Ripple rising over 10% to $1.35.<\/p>\n
The Japanese Yen faces potential changes ahead of a snap election. Polls suggest a probable win for the ruling bloc, causing concerns about swift economic policy adjustments.<\/p>\n
Ripple shows ongoing recovery, supported by recent crypto market dynamics. It has increased over 21% from its intraday low, currently above $1.36.<\/p>\n
FXStreet disclaims responsibility for potential risks in investment decisions, urging thorough individual research. The information should not be perceived as financial advice and is provided for informational purposes.<\/p>\n
The small rise in the U.S. oil rig count to 412 suggests production is holding steady but not aggressively expanding. While the count itself is almost flat, we know from recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) data that U.S. crude output is already near record highs of over 13.3 million barrels per day. Derivative traders should watch for range-bound price action in WTI crude, making strategies like selling covered calls on oil futures or buying straddles to play potential volatility appealing.<\/p>\n
The main driver in the market is the growing talk of a Federal Reserve rate cut as early as March, which is weakening the U.S. Dollar. We remember the series of hikes that defined late 2025, so this pivot in sentiment is causing significant moves in currency markets. With futures markets now pricing in over a 65% probability of a rate cut next month, options traders could consider buying calls on the Euro and British Pound to ride this momentum.<\/p>\n
This weaker dollar outlook is fueling gold’s rally, pushing it toward the $5,000 per ounce mark. The potential for lower interest rates reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold. This trend is further supported by reports showing global central banks have continued their aggressive gold purchases into the new year, extending the pattern we saw throughout 2025.<\/p>\n
Despite the flight to safe havens like gold, riskier assets like Bitcoin are also rebounding, climbing back above $65,000. This suggests traders believe a potential Fed pivot could lift all asset classes by providing cheaper capital. This environment of mixed signals, where both safe havens and risk assets are rallying, points to underlying market uncertainty, which could be exploited through volatility-focused options on major indices.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil rig count rises; EUR\/USD, GBP\/USD gain; gold nears $5,000; crypto rebounds; Ripple surges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}