Tariffs volatility prompts rush to re-hedge EUR/USD options books
Banks left scrambling to buy vol as spot surged beyond expectations
The sharp fall in the US dollar following President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs announcement saw intense activity on foreign exchange options desks, leaving dealers rushing to buy volatility to re-hedge EUR/USD books as spot surged.
“It was manic… it almost made the Turkish lira [moves] irrelevant,” says one head of FX derivatives at a large European bank.
The US Dollar Index fell 3.2% overnight after the announcement on April 2, one of its worst days since 2022, as investors fretted
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