Options Trading News

The equity indexes bounced off their session lows but still all finished yesterday in the red, pushing the CBOE Volatility Index and its futures slightly higher.

The S&P 500 was down 2.16 points to close at 1353.33. It had traded as low as 1348 and bounced into positive territory at several points, including right before the bell. Support and resistance remain at 1338 and 1395 respectively.  

The Nasdaq 100 was down 7.51 points to 2524.36. The NDX too was in the middle of its range, though it fell to session lows under 2515 just before the bell. Support and resistance are 2504 and 2650 respectively.

The Russell 2000 was down 3.72 points to 769.48, having the biggest percentage loss of the three at 0.48 percent. Support remains at 758 and resistance at 813.

The VIX was up 0.07 points to 17.99 after hitting a high of 18.64 around lunchtime at the S&P 500's low. It remains essentially in line with the short-term historical volatility of the SPX, which is also above 17 percent.

The VIX futures were also higher. The November futures gained 0.15 points to 18 even, while December futures were up 0.10 points to 19.10. The VIX futures traded 171,000 contracts, making it the fourth highest volume day ever. Wednesday was just behind with more than 169,000 contracts, putting it in fifth place.

More than 1.4 million SPX options changed hands with a put/call ratio of roughly 2 to 1. More than 458,000 VIX options traded, with 311,000 calls. But the VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was actually down fractionally on the day at 94.54.