Options Market Turns Cautious: Traders Eye April 2 Announcement
Risk markets sold off across the board with Trump’s “liberation day” of reciprocal tariff announcements at just around the corner. Activity was anywhere from 20 to 40% below recent averages given the ‘wait and see’ nature of tariffs, with sell offs seen across US equities, Asian equities, EM FX, oil, and crypto.
Spot gold new hit recent highs above 3080 as a sign of the recent risk-off, while BTC put skews have moved to interim highs vs calls as traders are fully positioned for a bearish outcome in the near future. Implied volatility levels and momentum have also hit interim lows as speculative interest remains low across the board in crypto.