November saw the United States Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index increase by 0.2% month-over-month, aligning with predictions. The core inflation rate hit 2.8%, also falling in line with expectations, indicating stable pricing conditions.<\/p>\n
Various markets experienced movement due to global trade and geopolitical activities. The EUR\/USD pair climbed due to a weaker US Dollar and eased EU-US trade strains, reaching two-day highs at 1.1750. Concurrently, the GBP\/USD moved towards two-week highs influenced by sustained US Dollar pressure.<\/p>\n
Gold edged closer to record highs, nearing $4,900 per troy ounce, as geopolitical tensions eased. Bitcoin rose slightly above $90,000, while Ethereum hovered around $3,000, amid intensified ETF selling pressure. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) fortified its stance above $1.90 despite cautious retail sentiment.<\/p>\n
In geopolitical updates, the proposed NATO tariff increase faced reversals, mitigating prior escalation risks. Across the financial services sector, insights for prospective brokers outlined various trading platforms and opportunities for currencies, CFDs, and gold in 2026 across different regions. These insights are tailored to guide traders aiming for the most cost-effective and strategically sound investments.<\/p>\n
As we assess the markets on January 22, 2026, we are looking back at the Personal Consumption Expenditures data from last November. That report, which showed core inflation at 2.8%, helped weaken the dollar because the numbers were exactly as expected, removing any immediate fears of the Fed turning more aggressive. The de-escalation of trade tensions with the EU further fueled a risk-on appetite, pushing currencies like the Euro and Pound higher against the dollar.<\/p>\n
However, the situation has evolved over the past several weeks. The final inflation figures for December 2025, which we received earlier this month, showed Core PCE unexpectedly ticking up to 2.9%, suggesting inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s target. This persistence challenges the narrative that the Fed could begin easing policy in the first half of this year.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the latest jobs report for December showed the economy added a robust 216,000 jobs, far exceeding forecasts and keeping the unemployment rate at a historically low 3.7%. A strong labor market combined with sticky inflation gives the Federal Reserve very little incentive to cut interest rates anytime soon. The market is now repricing the odds of a March rate cut, which have fallen from over 70% a month ago to less than 50% today.<\/p>\n
Given this shift, we see opportunities in derivatives that bet on a reversal of late 2025’s trends. Call options on the US Dollar Index (DXY) appear attractive, as the dollar may regain strength on the back of a more hawkish Fed outlook. Consequently, put options on EUR\/USD and GBP\/USD could be used to hedge against or profit from a pullback from the highs we saw late last year.<\/p>\n
The rally in precious metals also looks vulnerable. Gold’s surge toward $4,900 an ounce was driven by a weakening dollar and expectations of rate cuts, but that foundation now appears shaky. Traders should consider using put options on major gold ETFs to protect against a potential correction as higher-for-longer interest rates make non-yielding assets like gold less attractive.<\/p>\n
This divergence between market expectations last November and the economic reality of January will likely increase market volatility. We believe purchasing options on volatility indexes could be a prudent strategy. This allows traders to profit from the larger price swings that are likely to occur as the market digests the fact that the path for interest rates will be higher than previously thought.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stable inflation, currency shifts, gold nears highs, crypto holds firm, and brokers eye 2026 trading strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":17026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39881","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\/39881","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=39881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}