China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July recorded a year-on-year change of 0%, surpassing expectations of -0.1%. This data point marks a shift from the deflationary trend anticipated by economists.<\/p>\n
The currency market remains active, with EUR\/USD showing some recovery trading back above 1.1650. The focus remains on upcoming US inflation data as the USD experiences minor fluctuations.<\/p>\n
In the GBP\/USD market, the British Pound has gained momentum, hovering near 1.3450. This resurgence is driven by recent monetary policy changes by the Bank of England, which have bolstered confidence.<\/p>\n
Gold prices have stabilised around $3,400 per troy ounce after a recent peak. The recent policy of taxing gold bars in the United States also influenced its valuation.<\/p>\n
Within the cryptocurrency sphere, Bitcoin has experienced a moderate downturn after approaching the $118,000 mark. However, other digital currencies like Ethereum and XRP are maintaining strong positions, reflecting a bullish sentiment.<\/p>\n
The Bank of England’s decision to cut rates by 25 basis points to 4% reflects ongoing concerns about inflationary pressures. This economic approach may indicate a near-term pause in the current easing cycle.<\/p>\n
With China\u2019s July inflation data coming in flat at 0%, we have avoided immediate deflationary fears that had been priced into the market. However, producer price index (PPI) data released this week for July still showed a 1.5% contraction year-on-year, indicating weakness in the industrial sector. This mixed outlook suggests we should consider using options, like a long strangle on the Hang Seng Index, to trade the potential for a sharp price move in either direction.<\/p>\n
The Euro\u2019s brief recovery over 1.1650 appears delicate, particularly after the US July CPI data released on August 8, 2025, came in slightly hot at 3.1%, beating the 3.0% forecast. This data has renewed strength in the US dollar, suggesting the recent EUR\/USD rally is a chance to initiate bearish positions. We see an opportunity in buying near-term put options on the EUR\/USD, targeting a move back towards the 1.1500 level.<\/p>\n
The British Pound is showing resilience near 1.3450 after the Bank of England’s recent decision to cut rates to 4%. Looking back, this is the first rate cut since the aggressive hiking cycle that ended in 2024, but recent retail sales figures for July showed a 0.5% decline, hinting at a slowing economy. We believe this underlying weakness will cap the pound’s rally, making it sensible to sell out-of-the-money call options to collect premium.<\/p>\n
Gold has found a solid base around $3,400 an ounce, a key psychological level after it failed to break its all-time high of around $3,550 set earlier this year. The new US tax on physical gold bars has cooled some retail demand, but we have seen reports this quarter of renewed large-scale buying from central banks, similar to the trend observed back in 2022 and 2023. This dynamic makes selling cash-secured put options an attractive strategy to generate income from the price stability.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin\u2019s rejection from the $118,000 mark has introduced some caution, but we are seeing a clear divergence in the market. Ethereum and XRP are holding their ground, largely driven by news of sustained institutional inflows into spot Ether ETFs, which have now reportedly surpassed $30 billion in global assets. We think this performance gap makes a pairs trade attractive, suggesting a long position in Ethereum futures against a short position in Bitcoin futures.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China’s CPI steadies, gold stabilizes, pound gains on policy shift, Bitcoin dips, USD awaits inflation data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":17028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}