Options Trading News

The major equity indexes ended Friday lower, as did the CBOE Volatility Index.  

The S&P 500 gave up early gains to finish at 1519.79, down 1.59 points on the day. It remains above its 10-day moving average with 20-day historical volatility at a low rate of 7.8 percent. Support is now at 1496, while there is some resistance at last week's intraday high of 1525.

The Nasdaq 100 was down 6.76 points to 2764.67 and, unlike the SPX, is well off its 52-week highs. The NDX does remain above its 10-day moving average, however. It has support at 2715 and resistance at 2785.

The Russell 2000 climbed to another all-time intraday high of 927.34 but finished the day down 0.61 points to 923.15. It has support at 894.    

The VIX slipped 0.20 points, or 1.6 percent, to 12.46. That is no great surprise going into a three-day weekend because the S&P 500 options had to price in the time decay, depressing the volatility index. The VIX had climbed into positive territory when the SPX was at its lows about an hour before the close, but the it slid from there.

The VIX futures were lower as well, with the March and April contracts each down 0.10 points to 14.45 and 15.65 respectively. That pushed the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Note (VXX) down 0.9 percent to 21.97, yet another all-time low.

The VIX options traded 428,000 contracts, led by 318,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was down again to 72.55, just off last month's lows.