The euro rose against the US dollar early on Thursday, tracking gains in Australian and New Zealand dollars after Asian equities posted their biggest rise in five weeks and investors closed out short positions accumulated over recent weeks.

Electronic FX trading will account for 90% of all spot volumes within three years, according to a report from GreySpark Partners.

Scandinavian currencies thrive when risk appetite is strong. When the mood changes, though, they suffer more than their peers, a sign that the carry trade is not solely a function of appetite for risk, say analysts at UBS.

The potential for a domino effect across the eurozone from the most recent Greek crisis, 12 months on from the last one, is playing out across the financial markets. Worries about sovereign contagion have spread across global markets already, with equity markets and commodity markets following the euro lower in recent weeks. Markets have become highly correlated again.

JPMorgan has appointed Andrés Choussy as global head of FX clearing, in a newly created position at the firm, sources tell EuromoneyFXNews. He was previously head of North America CDS clearing.

JPMorgan has appointed Andrés Choussy as global head of FX clearing, in a newly created position at the firm, sources tell EuromoneyFXNews. He was previously head of North America CDS clearing.

Kevin Connors, the former co-head of global G10 foreign exchange sales at Goldman Sachs, has been hired by Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its new global head of FX sales, according to three people familiar with the matter.

SuperDerivatives, the derivatives pricing vendor, says that it intends to roll out its FX options trading platform by the end of 2011.

HSBC has made some key new hires and reshuffled some of its senior FX management team, EuromoneyFXNews can reveal.

Competition in the best execution space intensified this week after David Ogg launched his latest solution, aimed at adding value to the trading bottom line.

SuperDerivatives, the derivatives pricing vendor, says that it intends to roll out its FX options trading platform by the end of 2011.

The euro came under intense selling pressure early on Monday, hitting a record low against the Swiss franc, amid concern that debt burdens in European peripheral countries are spiralling out of control.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s latest Commitments of Traders report has shown a big drop in short positions on the US dollar, based in International Money Market data.

Steve Yanez, global head of foreign exchange and short-term interest rate trading at Credit Suisse, is retiring after 18 years at the bank.

Analysts seem to agree that Japanese retail investors are betting competing pressures will keep the yen in a band in the coming months, going short the currency when it rises and long when it falls.

LCH.Clearnet’s FX options clearing service will go live for G10 currency pairings by the end of the year, says Gavin Wells, managing director of FX clearing at LCH.

The yen edged lower against the dollar and the euro on Friday after the Bank of Japan resisted calls for further stimulus to spur an economy already weakened by the impact of the earthquake.

HSBC has made some key new hires and reshuffled some of its senior FX management team, EuromoneyFXNews can reveal.

The correlation between dollar and commodity currencies is in decline and likely to head lower, reversing the surge that followed the financial crisis, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Carry-based trading strategies are set to outperform as currencies based in high-interest rate countries offer better returns than their low interest rate counterparts, according to Goldman Sachs.

China’s recent selling of US Treasuries suggests it may support structural dollar weakening, but the country’s diversification into alternative dollar assets indicates a more complex dynamic at play, analysts say.

European investors bought the dollar in early trade on Thursday, paring overnight declines as investors bet it would not be long before the US takes the first step to start raising interest rates.

US broker-dealer MF Global has named veteran FX trader James Kemp as its global head of foreign exchange. His appointment is effective immediately, the firm said in a statement.

Electronic trading is one of the biggest drivers of emerging market FX inflows, according to Mike Burton, Société Générale’s global head of FX sales.

The pound was the worst performing of the G10 currencies on Wednesday, amid fading expectations for interest rate hikes, as policy makers suggested slower economic growth was a greater concern than faster inflation.

Icap, the London-based interdealer broker, said foreign exchange revenues rose 10% to £312 million in year ended March 31, up from £292m for the previous year. Total group revenues were £1.7bn, up 8% year-on-year.

Kevin Connors, the former co-head of global G10 foreign exchange sales at Goldman Sachs, has been hired by Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its new global head of FX sales, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The FX options market will see some profound changes in 2012 when new regulations for mandatory central clearing and electronic execution are finally implemented, says Phil Weisberg, chief executive officer of multi-dealer execution platform, FXall.

Saxo Bank is setting the pace in the options market by bringing more transparency, says chief operating officer Kurt vom Scheidt. It will be the first bank to disseminate option prices and client position ratios to retail customers and will publish them on its financial markets website, tradingfloor.com.

It is just five months since the renminbi offshore interbank options market launched and business is already brisk, say traders. Rising off a low base of the first corporate trades executed last year, trading volumes have increased 10-fold according to one bank, which is an active market maker in CNH options. It reports daily trading volumes as high as $500 million on active days.