The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a decrease in US crude oil stocks by 4.8 million barrels, exceeding the anticipated reduction of 1.7 million barrels for the week ending 5th December.<\/p>\n
Gold prices experienced fluctuations, initially declining towards $4,200 before rebounding due to safe-haven demand ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, which is expected to include a 25 basis point cut.<\/p>\n
The US Dollar showed strength, putting pressure on various markets, including WTI crude oil, which fell below $58.50. Ethereum saw a 6% rise, driven by increased whale buying and comments from President Donald Trump regarding the Federal Reserve Chair.<\/p>\n
Global and European economies have been resilient despite the global slowdown of 2025, though risks for economic recovery are increasing, affecting the medium-run global macro and credit outlook. Bitcoin traded above $90,000 amidst a cautious crypto market with altcoins such as Ethereum and Ripple maintaining key support levels.<\/p>\n
In currency markets, the EUR\/USD retreated for the fourth consecutive day, approaching the 1.1600 level, while GBP\/USD moved towards the midrange, reacting to technical rejections and awaiting the Federal Reserve’s decisions.<\/p>\n
The larger-than-expected draw in crude oil inventories, with a reported -4.8 million barrels against an anticipated -1.7 million, signals tightening supply. However, oil prices are being suppressed by a stronger US dollar, which we’ve seen happen consistently throughout 2025 whenever the Dollar Index (DXY) pushes above 106. Traders should consider buying January call options on WTI with a strike price around $60 to position for a potential rebound if the dollar softens after the Federal Reserve’s decision.<\/p>\n
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve, with a 25-basis-point rate cut fully priced into the market for tomorrow. The key will be the central bank’s tone; a “hawkish cut,” signaling this might be a one-time adjustment, could further strengthen the dollar. We saw a similar dynamic back in the summer of 2019, which led to sharp, unpredictable swings in currency pairs like the EUR\/USD.<\/p>\n
Gold’s resilience near $4,200, despite dollar strength, highlights significant underlying anxiety among investors. Open interest in gold call options with a $4,300 strike has surged over 15% this past week, indicating that many are betting on a continued move upward as a safe haven. We should view this as a key indicator of market fear and protect long positions with put options or use call spreads to define risk ahead of the Fed’s commentary.<\/p>\n
With Bitcoin holding above $90,000, the crypto market is being treated as both a risk asset and a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty. The 30-day implied volatility for Bitcoin options has climbed back above 80%, a level we have not seen since the sharp correction in the third quarter of 2025. Given this expected price movement, using strategies like long strangles could be an effective way to trade the volatility without betting on a specific direction.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crude stocks fell, gold rebounded, Ethereum rose 6%, USD strengthened, and Bitcoin held above $90,000.<\/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-36432","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-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36432","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=36432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}