Options Trading News

The equity indexes climbed into positive territory at the end of yesterday's session, driving the CBOE Volatility Index and VIX futures lower.

The S&P 500 was up 11 points to close just shy of 1410, its high of the day. It traded as low as 1387 in the morning but rose from there after the market interpreted comments from Washington as positive on "fiscal cliff" negotiations. Support is at 1380 and resistance at 1428.

The Nasdaq 100 was up almost 24 points to 2665.27, a gain of 0.9 percent, for the best percentage move among the indexes. It dipped below 2620 in the first hour before beginning its ascent. Support is 2600 at and resistance at 2700.

The Russell 2000 gained 5.76 points to finish at 813.50. It broke below $799 in the morning but also closed at its session high.

The VIX was down 0.41 points, or 2.58 percent, to 15.51. It was as high as 16.98 during the equity lows. The December VIX futures were down 0.65 points, or 4 percent, to close at 15.50, surprisingly below the spot reading of the volatility index. The January VIX futures fell 0.55 points to 17.25.

The SPX options traded 540,000 contracts, with puts just outpacing calls. The VIX options traded 347,000 times, led by 240,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, gave up 4.5 percent to close at 80.39 after hitting an all-time intraday low of 80.34.