Notable FX Option Expiries for todays NY cut: 21st October 2026

• EUR/USD: 1.1195 (EUR 2.1bln), 1.1200 (EUR 2bln) , 1.1225 (EUR 714mln), 1.1260 (EUR 576mln), 1.1270 (EUR 1.4bln), 1.1325 (EUR 663mln)
• USD/JPY: 156.50 (USD 1.3bln), 158.00 (USD 1.2bln), 159.50 (USD 746mln), 160.25 (USD 1.2bln)
• GBP/USD: 1.3210 (GBP 872mln)
• AUD/USD: 0.6955 (AUD 544mln), 0.6950 (AUD 590mln)
• EUR/GBP: 0.8440 (EUR 712mln), 0.8520 (EUR 1.3bln)

Option expiries of this size have a well-documented mechanical footprint rather than an informational one: large strikes, particularly the multi-billion clusters in EUR/USD around 1.1195 to 1.1270 and the stacked USD/JPY levels at 156.50 through 160.25, can exert a gravitational pull on spot into the New York cut as delta hedgers trade against their gamma, with the effect strongest when spot sits close to a strike and liquidity is thin. The established sequence is pinning or range compression ahead of the cut, then a release of that gravity once the options roll off, after which any move suppressed by hedging flow tends to express itself. The caveat that applies across episodes of this kind is that size is relative: a billion-plus expiry matters in a quiet session but washes through when macro data or central bank commentary is driving genuine directional flow. The USD/JPY stack is the more sensitive case given that pair's history of official discomfort at elevated levels, which can amplify or blunt the hedging dynamic depending on where spot trades relative to the strikes. EUR/GBP's concentrated 0.8520 expiry is large enough to shape the cross independently of the dollar legs. Worth noting is whether spot is drawn toward the biggest strikes into the cut and whether any breakout afterward is merely the expiry effect unwinding rather than fresh flow.