Options expiries across a number of FX pairs are concentrated this Tuesday, with important strike notional amounts clustered around specific levels that could affect trading activity as the New York session approaches its daily cut.
EUR/USD carries three large expiries for Tuesday. The biggest sits at 1.1850 with €1.82 billion of contracts, followed by 1.1750 with €1.51 billion and 1.1700 with €1.27 billion. The calendar shows an additional expiry for the pair on Wednesday totaling €2.47 billion at 1.1710.
USD/JPY also has heavy expiries this week. On Tuesday the single largest strike is at 160.00 with $1.59 billion in contracts. Other Tuesday strikes include $413.9 million at 159.00 and $381.4 million at 161.00. The schedule for Wednesday is even heavier at the 159.00 level with $4.39 billion expiring and $2.75 billion set to expire at 158.00.
The Brazilian real shows notable expiries for Tuesday, with $768 million striking at 5.0000, $584.1 million at 5.2000 and $420.5 million at 5.0300. For Wednesday the largest listed expiry is $1.04 billion at 4.9600.
AUD/USD expiries on Tuesday include AUD540.9 million at 0.7130, AUD430.7 million at 0.7245 and AUD370 million at 0.7190. The pair also has a significant expiry slated for Thursday at 0.7000 totaling AUD1.08 billion.
EUR/GBP shows €939.6 million expiring at 0.8710 on Tuesday. Larger strikes arrive later in the week with €1.55 billion at 0.9050 and €1.35 billion at 0.8875 expiring on Thursday.
GBP/USD has £477.3 million expiring at 1.3470 on Tuesday. Wednesday expiries include £603.5 million at 1.3550 and £601.6 million at 1.3370.
USD/CNY expiries for Tuesday contain $550 million at 6.8000, $496.4 million at 6.9000 and $300.1 million at 6.8300. The largest nearby expiry is listed for Wednesday at 6.8140 with $1.22 billion.
USD/MXN expiries include $470 million at 17.00, $438.5 million at 17.56 and $435 million at 16.99.
Market snapshot snippets associated with these pairs in the source data include the following percent moves: EUR/USD -0.24%, GBP/USD -0.01%, USD/JPY +0.26%, AUD/USD -0.31%, EUR/GBP -0.24%, USD/MXN +0.09%, USD/BRL -0.49%, USD/CNY -0.02%.
Traders and risk managers tracking order books and potential option-related squeezes should note the exact strike clusters and the adjacent day expiries, which may extend the window of potential influence beyond Tuesday alone.