RUSSIA: Kremlin-No Plan For Putin-Trump Call In Coming Days
State-run TASS reporting comments from Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov. Says that there are no plans for a call between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in the coming days. This comes after NBC News reported on 3 April that members of Trump's inner circle are advising the US president not to call the Russian leader until Putin agrees to a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
- Peskov does, though, express 'cautious optimism' regarding relations with the US. He praises the work of special rep. for economic cooperation Kirill Dmitriev, who has spent the last two days in Washington, D.C., meeting Trump admin officials said "Without doubt, we note a positive dynamic in our relations. A series of meetings will still be needed for us to resolve all our differences. But the main thing we see a positive, creative attitude."
- Peskov claims that Russia "has no tangible trade with the US" and as such will not be unduly affected by Trump's tariffs, but cautions "Russia must take extra measures to minimise negative consequences for its own economy in the wake of tariffs and market turbulence."
- Peskov says that Russia "continues to discuss the nuances of a possible ceasefire" in Ukraine, while also claiming that Russian defence systems shot down 895 Ukrainian drones over the past week.
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OPTIONS: Firm Demand for EUR Upside via Options, Solid Interest in $1.10 Strikes
Not just EUR spot markets that are gaining well early Wednesday, with front-end EUR implied vols surging on today's rally, putting the one-week clear of 11 points. This is still shy of the year's best levels (triggered by early February tariff volatility and Trump's inauguration), but holds 2.5 points clear of the YTD average as markets rush to price in near-term vol and the prospect of a higher EUR.
- Topside demand is clear to see: 1m EUR/USD risk reversals are now broadly flat, erasing the put premium that had dominated the market since late September and accompanied the USD Index rally off September lows. As a result, the rush of EUR/USD parity options pricing that became a notable market theme at the turn of the year has all but concluded, with markets now pricing just 0.3% options-implied probability of a touch of 1.00 by end-Q1, having traded as high as 28% just a month ago.
- No surprise then to see upside EUR/USD structures in firm demand today: over €11.5bln in calls have crossed the DTCC just this morning (that's near €3 in calls for every €1 in puts), with over €1bln call notional crossing at both the 1.08 and 1.10 strikes, making for some of the firmest upside EUR demand of the year so far.
GREECE T-BILL AUCTION RESULTS: 52-Week GTB
| Type | 52-week GTB |
| Maturity | Mar 6, 2026 |
| Amount | E500mln |
| Target | E500mln |
| Previous | E500mln |
| Avg yield | 2.15% |
| Previous | 2.27% |
| Bid-to-cover | 1.87x |
| Previous | 1.91x |
| Previous date | Dec 04, 2024 |
GILT AUCTION RESULTS: Decent 5-year auction
- A decent 5-year gilt auction with with low price broadly in line with the pre-auction market mid-price with a solid average price and 0.3bp tail - a smaller tail than a month ago and a higher bid-to-cover of 3.39x (3.05x prior).
- After a brief dip just ahead of the auction results being published, the 4.375% Mar-30 gilt is now trading between the LAP (lowest accepted price) and the average auction price.
- Gilt futures also saw a dip just before the auction results (but after the bidding window closed) but are now broadly in line with pre-auction levels.
