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One investor was seen picking up a sizeable straddle on the euro against the dollar on Thursday following a slide in the pair which resulted in the breaching of the 1.10 psychological level.

A continued strengthening of the dollar and a wave of central banking announcements have muted FX options trading despite lower premiums and falling volatility.

When it comes to how banks finance their activities, there is little doubt we are in a new era. If anyone did question that the climate has changed, then a little known Austrian institution may have caused them to think again this week.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Reserve Bank of Australia which will allow the RBA access to derivatives data held in European trade repositories as required under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation.

The extremes of last quarter and the start of this year have subsided, and most measures of volatility and of the cost of options protection have returned to normal ranges.

Market participants have been buying significant amounts of bearish options on defensive stocks and funds, such as utilities, indicating that consumer sentiment is shifting from market recovery to expansion.

The Moscow Exchange has is now trading futures contracts on the US dollar against the Canadian dollar and the US dollar versus the Turkish lira.

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Investors are increasingly looking at shorting puts on single stocks as a way to generate yield and higher risk-adjusted returns, according to strategists.

New buyside entrants and portfolio managers are increasingly using options on futures as a way to keep margin costs down while generating tailored risk exposure, providing an effective alternative to over-the-counter swaps and futures strategies.

LCH.Clearnet’s global interest rate swap clearing platform, SwapClear, is launching a portfolio margining service that will enable its members and their clients to maximise their margin offsets between over-the-counter and listed interest rate derivatives. As a result of this, users will be able to more efficiently manage their collateral obligations.

Risk arbitrage traders, among others, are betting on continued upside in General Electric by buying medium and long dated call spreads on the back of a speculative corporate split off, according to strategists.