“我们看到对冲基金买入美元/日元看涨期权或数位期权，以期该货币对升至160-165区间，尽管日本财务大臣和财务省发出警告。”巴克莱银行驻新加坡的亚洲外汇期权主管Mukund Daga说道。美元兑日元周五收在156.31日元，东京时间15：13日元下跌0.2%至156.60。Leveraged Funds have shifted their focus to USD/JPY, building positions and betting that this currency pair will rise by 5% in the coming months.
Following last week's hawkish decision by the Federal Reserve and dovish decision by the Bank of Japan, hedge funds have flocked to bullish Options Trading on USD/JPY. These views have also dampened sentiment towards the yen, and the market's optimism regarding the yen's prospects has decreased.
After the central bank's decision on December 19, the trading volume of USD/JPY on DTCC surged, exceeding 23 billion dollars, surpassing the previous high of about 15 billion dollars this month. As of 14:19 Tokyo time on Monday, USD/JPY is the most active currency pair in Options Trading on DTCC.
"We have seen hedge funds Buy Call Options or digit Options on USD/JPY, hoping that this currency pair will rise to the Range of 160-165, despite warnings from Japan's Finance Minister and Ministry of Finance," said Mukund Daga, head of Asian Forex Options at Barclays in Singapore. USD/JPY closed at 156.31 yen on Friday and fell 0.2% to 156.60 at 15:13 Tokyo time.
According to Other traders, many bullish Options Trading contracts cover the next rate decision of both central banks in January. Due to a surge in demand for Calls, the premium paid to hedge against downside risks of the currency pair over the next two months has seen the largest drop in three months on December 19. Both Asian and European hedge funds have bought Call Options.
Sagar Sambrani, a foreign exchange derivatives trader at Nomura International in London, stated, "Due to the divergence in expectations between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan, interest in the upside for USD/JPY in the first quarter of 2025 has reignited, supported by the broader strength of the dollar, with these trades expressed through direct digit Options and leverage structures."
