Iran\u2019s Fars News Agency said there are no direct communications with the United States or via intermediaries, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Fars also reported that US President Donald Trump stepped back after hearing that Iran would target all power plants in West Asia.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trump said the US decided to postpone military strikes against Iranian power plants after \u201cgood and productive conversations\u201d about a \u201ccomplete and total resolution\u201d of hostilities in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
After Trump\u2019s announcement, the US Dollar Index recovered from a session low near 99.10 and held small daily gains slightly above 99.50.<\/p>\n
The conflicting reports about US-Iran communications create uncertainty, which we know drives volatility. We remember a similar situation back in 2025 where President Trump’s statements caused a sharp, temporary reaction in the dollar. This pattern of headlines moving markets means traders should prepare for sudden price swings based on news, not just fundamentals.<\/p>\n
Given the recent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, implied volatility on Brent crude options has already ticked up by 4% in the last week. Traders should look at buying out-of-the-money call options on oil futures as a low-cost way to profit from a potential supply shock. The last time rhetoric escalated this sharply in late 2025, Brent futures jumped nearly $7 in two days.<\/p>\n
We are also seeing renewed demand for the US dollar as a safe haven, with the Dollar Index pushing back above 104.20, its highest level since January 2026. This suggests that options on currency pairs like USD\/JPY are becoming attractive for traders betting on a flight to safety. The VIX, a key measure of market fear, has also climbed from 15 to 19.5 this month, showing broader market anxiety.<\/p>\n
The contradictory nature of the reports, with one side claiming talks and the other denying them, makes directional bets risky. Therefore, a strategy that profits from a large price move in either direction, such as a long straddle using options on an energy sector ETF, is prudent. This allows a trader to capitalize on the inevitable spike in volatility without having to guess the outcome of diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fars says Iran has no US communication; Trump paused strikes after threats, amid talks; dollar index rebound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"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-45211","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\/45211","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\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}