What is the 10am New York cut?

It is the standard expiry time for most vanilla FX options, 10:00 Eastern. Options either exercise or expire worthless at that moment, which is why price behaviour often changes immediately afterwards.

How do FX option expiries affect spot price?

Dealers hedging large positions trade against the market as spot approaches a big strike, dampening moves and pulling price towards the level. The effect scales with notional size and fades as the expiry nears.

What size of expiry actually matters?

As a rough guide, expiries below a few hundred million notional rarely influence a liquid major. Sizes around a billion or more, close to current spot, are the ones worth marking on the chart.

Do option expiries work every day?

No. They matter most in quiet, data-free sessions. A central bank decision or a surprise inflation print will overpower any strike.

FX TERMINAL

FX Option Expiries

Know where the option strikes sit before the 10am New York cut. The FX option expiry board lists the day's significant expiries by pair and strike, highlighting the levels that can act as intraday magnets for EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and the rest of the majors.

Largest FX option expiries — 10:00 NY cut

For the 27 August 2026 10:00 NY cut, the largest FX option expiry tracked by FX Terminal is EUR/USD at strike 1.1645. Large expiring strikes tend to pin spot toward them as the cut approaches.

Largest FX option expiries — 10:00 NY cut — as of 27 August 2026 (notional in millions)
Pair	Strike	Notional (m)	Expiry
EUR/USD	1.1645	—	2026-08-27
EUR/USD	1.1644	—	2026-08-27

Source: FX Terminal option expiry board. Data as of 27 August 2026. This is a static snapshot taken when the page was published — open the terminal above for the live, interactive version.

The strikes that pin spot into the New York cut

Large FX option expiries create real gravity in the hours before they roll off. This board lists the day's significant expiries by pair and strike with their notional size, highlighting the levels most likely to act as intraday magnets ahead of the 10am New York cut.

Dealers hedging a large expiry buy dips and sell rallies around the strike, which compresses the range. Once the option expires, that damping disappears — which is why spot so often breaks out in the hour after the cut.

How to use expiry levels

Treat big strikes as short-term mean-reversion levels while they are live, not as directional signals. If price is drifting towards a very large strike with no data due, the odds favour it being held into the cut. If a strike sits just above resistance and the market is trending, expect a fight.

Cross-reference with the session monitor for liquidity and the economic calendar — a high-impact release overwhelms expiry gravity every time.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 10am New York cut?: It is the standard expiry time for most vanilla FX options, 10:00 Eastern. Options either exercise or expire worthless at that moment, which is why price behaviour often changes immediately afterwards.
How do FX option expiries affect spot price?: Dealers hedging large positions trade against the market as spot approaches a big strike, dampening moves and pulling price towards the level. The effect scales with notional size and fades as the expiry nears.
What size of expiry actually matters?: As a rough guide, expiries below a few hundred million notional rarely influence a liquid major. Sizes around a billion or more, close to current spot, are the ones worth marking on the chart.
Do option expiries work every day?: No. They matter most in quiet, data-free sessions. A central bank decision or a surprise inflation print will overpower any strike.

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FX Terminal provides free market research and analysis for informational purposes only. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Trading forex carries a high level of risk.