Options Trading News

The equity indexes were lower at the end of the day, driving the CBOE Volatility Index and its futures higher.

The S&P 500 was down 9.03 points to close at 1419.45, ending a six-day winning streak. It was as low as 1416 going into the last two hours of the session, bounced shortly before the bell, and then slipped again. Support is at 1398 and resistance at 1438.

The Nasdaq 100 followed a similar pattern, losing 20 points at the end of the day to finish at 2654.01. It continues to trade within support and resistance at 2600 and 2700 respectively.

The Russell 2000 gave up 5.19 points to end the session at 824.20. It has support at 810 and resistance at 842.

All three indexes are right back to their 10-day moving averages.

The action pushed the VIX up 0.61 points, or 3.82 percent, to 16.56. The volatility index, which typically moves inversely to the S&P 500, climbed all day to a high of 16.67 shortly before the bell.

The VIX futures were up as well. The December futures gained 0.50 points to 16.60, while the January contracts rose 0.15 points to 17.30.

More than 509,000 VIX options changed hands yesterday, led by 324,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was up 4.5 percent to 86.74.