FX options wrap - Election risks shift to Trump trades
The extreme FX volatility risk premiums to cover a protracted U.S. election process were rapidly unwound when Donald Trump took an early lead, with subsequent price action shifting to the potential FX risks ahead.
Strong gamma demand leading up to the U.S. election had taken sub 1-month expiry implied volatility to new long term highs, especially in the likes of CNH and MXN. Having peaked in early Asia Wednesday, implied volatility slumped across all currency pairs and expiry dates when it became clear that Trump would win.
Using EUR/USD as an example - 1-week implied volatility had doubled to 14.0 in the run-up to the election, before slumping to 9.0 in its wake, while 1-month fell around 2.0, to 6.9. It was only later in the European session when EUR/USD broke 1.0700 barriers that option demand resurfaced, with 1-month implied volatility regaining 7.45 and 3-month to 6.8 from 6.35.
In terms of flow, there was demand for 3-4 month expiry implied volatility in currencies most likely to be impacted by Trump's trade policies at the start of his presidency.
There was also renewed demand for USD call options against several major currencies, though trade flows varied in their outlooks on the extent and pace of USD gains.
Significant short-term event risks remain beyond the U.S. election, with upcoming central bank decisions from the U.S., UK, Sweden, and Norway on Thursday. Related comment nL1N3MD0PP
For more click on FXBUZ
EUR/USD FXO 1-3-12-month expiry implied volatility https://tmsnrt.rs/3NWgs2Q
1-month expiry FXO implied volatility https://tmsnrt.rs/4eivAlP
(Richard Pace is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
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