Options Trading News

Equity indexes were mixed but little-changed at the end of yesterday's session as the CBOE Volatility Index dropped again.

The S&P 500 was up 1.05 points to 1521.38, another five-year closing high. It opened lower and dipped briefly to 1514, then began a steady ascent. Support is at 1495.

The Nasdaq 100 was down 2.34 points to 2771.43. The index opened at the session low and climbed into positive territory in the middle of the day but turned negative again by the close. Wednesday's high of 2783 may provide a first level of resistance, while support remains at 2715.

The Russell 2000 gained 3.18 points to finish at 923.76, just off its intraday highs but at another new all-time closing high. It has support at 894.

The VIX fell all day and finished down 0.32 points, or 2.5 percent, to 12.66. The volatility index is above Tuesday's close and a few from the middle of January. It is still higher than the 20-day historical volatility of the SPX of 7.9 percent.

The VIX March and April futures were both down 0.20 points, to 14.55 and 15.65 respectively. This left the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Note (VXX) down 1.5 percent to 22.16, another new all-time low.

More than 639,000 VIX options changed hands, dominated by 500,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was down fractionally to 72.99, just above its lifetime lows.