FX options wrap - JPY at the fore; here come the central banks
Mild risk aversion underpinned the USD and provided an extra tailwind for a surging Japanese yen and its related FX option implied volatility on Wednesday.
JPY short paring is driving the JPY surge to new highs against the USD since the early May intervention, with benchmark 1-month USD/JPY implied volatility following suit to new highs since May 3 at 10.6. One-month expiry risk reversals have also regained longer term highs for JPY calls over puts at 1.8.
JPY spillover and USD demand helped to move FX and underpin implied volatility in other currency pairs, but demand and gains were limited.
EUR/USD 1-week expiry implied volatility regained the upper, from lower 4's and 1-month 5.2 from 5.1, but those levels remain close to recent and long term lows and reflect expectations of low FX realised volatility and familiar ranges.
GBP/USD 1-month implied volatility maintained its hold to the now familiar low 6's, with risk reversals staying close to long term lows for GBP puts and trade flows not looking for significantly deeper GBP declines.
AUD/USD 1-month implied volatility only managed a 0.2 increase to 8.7 as spot tested sub 0.6600, where a huge expiry and technical support kept losses in check.
Some key central bank policy announcements are on the near term horizon, with the BoJ now included by 1-week expiries and clearly raising/underpinning JPY related implied volatility. Look for renewed gains in 1-week expiry EUR and GBP related implied volatility from Thursday, when they include the July 31 Fed and August 1 BoE policy announcements.
For more click on FXBUZ
1-month GBP/USD risk reversal https://tmsnrt.rs/4fdNYhp
1-month GBP/USD FX option implied volatility https://tmsnrt.rs/4fdNM1F
USD/JPY 1-week and 1-month expiry FXO implied volatility https://tmsnrt.rs/3SmjZtQ
(Richard Pace is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
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