OPTION EXPIRIES:

EUR/USD

1.1800 (EUR 737.28 mn)
1.1755 (EUR 565.70 mn)
1.1700 (EUR 664.57 mn)
1.1600 (EUR 935.93 mn)

USD/JPY

GBP/USD

1.3415 (GBP 421.17 mn)
1.3250 (GBP 781.13 mn)

USD/CHF

0.8000 (US$ 350.67 mn)
0.7700 (US$ 300.00 mn)

USD/CAD

1.3940 (US$ 600.00 mn)
1.3800 (US$ 652.00 mn)

AUD/USD

EUR/GBP

0.8800 (EUR 486.21 mn)
0.8740 (EUR 411.89 mn)
0.8700 (EUR 627.24 mn)
0.8650 (EUR 513.20 mn)

WHAT ARE OPTION EXPIRIES?

The FX option expiration price levels refer to the strike prices where option contracts are set to expire. These levels include both calls and puts.

When you see “EUR/USD at 1.1600 for €4 billion” it means there is a total of €4 billion worth of options (calls + puts combined) that have a strike price of 1.1600 and are expiring at that specific time (the “New York Cut” at 10:00 AM ET).

Traders watch these levels because they often act as a “magnet” for the price. For example, if there’s nothing happening in the market and the price is close to the expiry level, let’s say 30-50 pips away, what you will usually see is the price moving into the expiry level. This happens due to the hedging activity of the market makers (banks, dealers and so on).

As the price gets closer to the strike price near expiration, these market makers must aggressively buy or sell the currency to hedge their risk. This hedging activity tends to suppress volatility and keep the price “pinned” close to the strike price until the expiration time passes.

Justin prepared a weekly overview before leaving for the holidays here.

For more information on how to use this data, you may refer to this post here.