FXO Market Update - Mar 01

A quick summary of the development in the option space over the last days.

Volatile start of the week with EURUSD gap down from 1.1275 close on Friday down to 1.1125 on Sunday opening. We saw the same risk move across the market with main selling in EUR crosses. Spot has recovered some of the move and EURUSD currently trades around 1.1200. USDRUB traded up to the area of 120 yesterday but has now traded back down to 100. 1 month USDRUB was quoted wide around 150 vol yesterday.

Vols higher in both G10 and EM, EURUSD 1 month traded up to 8.6 compared to a close at 7.10 of Friday. Risk reversals have move a lot towards the risk off side in all currency pairs with 1 month EURUSD trading from 0.6 for EURUSD puts on Friday to 1.40 today. The biggest moves have been seen in EUR crosses and CEE3 while USDJPY vols are just marginally higher. We have seen some selling of vol at the start today with EURUSD 1 month back down to 8.20 vol.

A big part of the higher vols are justified with a higher realized vol which we have seen increase daily over the last weeks and boosted by the big move yesterday. EURUSD 1 month realized vol trades at 9.0 (8.25 if we filter out the Sunday gap opening).

• The Top/Bottom charts shows the top 5 and bottom 5 values/changes for at-the-money vol, risk reversal (RR) and risk premium of the 45 currency pairs we are tracking.
• Risk premium: Implied (Imp) minus realized volatility. A positive risk premium means implied volatility trades above realized volatility, i.e. the implied volatility can be seen as “rich”.
• Change: The difference between current price/volatility and where it closed 1w ago.

FX Options Trading:

You should be aware that in purchasing Foreign Exchange Options, your potential loss will be the amount of the premium paid for the option, plus any fees or transaction charges that are applicable, should the option not achieve its strike price on the expiry date

If you write an option, the risk involved is considerably higher than buying an option. You may be liable for margin to maintain your position and a loss may be sustained well in excess of the premium received.

By writing an option, you accept a legal obligation to purchase or sell the underlying asset if the option is exercised against you; however far the market price has moved away from the strike. If you already own the underlying asset that you have contracted to sell, your risk will be limited.

If you do not own the underlying asset the risk can be unlimited. Only experienced persons should contemplate writing uncovered options, then only after securing full detail of the applicable conditions and potential risk exposure.

Learn more about FX Options:

Forex Options – An introduction

Forex Options – Exotic options