**Gold Prices Approach Key Level** Japan’s new leader, Sanae Takaichi, is expected to continue with supportive fiscal policies and relaxed monetary regulations. This shift could lead to both challenges and opportunities in the market. The FXStreet platform provides valuable content, including forex broker rankings for 2025, helping traders make informed choices. These lists cover categories like low spreads, high leverage, and regulated environments. The website keeps readers updated while stressing the need for personal research. It clarifies that it doesn’t offer personalized investment advice and highlights the risks of market trading. The Canadian Ivey PMI data for September exceeded expectations, signaling strong economic growth. Recent figures from Statistics Canada confirm this, showing a 1.2% rise in business capital investment last quarter, the fastest growth since the slowdown in 2024. This strength suggests the Bank of Canada may not hurry to cut interest rates, which could benefit the Canadian dollar. However, we must consider the political risks from the United States, particularly renewed talk of tariffs. To navigate this, using options might be better than trading the spot currency. Buying put options on the USD/CAD exchange rate can help us benefit from a rising Canadian dollar while limiting potential losses due to political news. **US Government Shutdown Fears Impact** Fears of a US government shutdown are creating a risk-off mood in the markets, pushing investors toward safer assets. We see this as gold approaches the key $4,000 level. The 2018-2019 government shutdown caused the VIX, a measure of market volatility, to spike over 30% in just weeks. This environment favors bullish positions in gold, especially as central banks around the world increase their reserves. Reports show that central banks have already bought over 800 metric tons of gold this year, giving a strong reason for gold’s upward trend. We can use call options on gold futures or ETFs to take advantage of this trend with defined risk. A major trend in the coming weeks will be the growing differences in central bank policies. While strong Canadian data suggests a tightening stance, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is cutting rates, and Japan is sticking to its loose monetary policy. This creates clear opportunities for relative value trades between currencies. Given this divergence, we recommend a pairs trade, specifically buying the Canadian dollar against the New Zealand dollar. This trade highlights the differing monetary policies of these two commodity-exporting countries. Using currency futures or options to set up this position would be an effective way to capitalize on this outlook. Create your live VT Markets account and start trading now.

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