S&P 500 Call Option Volume Hits All-Time High as Risk Appetite Surges
Daily call option volume on the S&P 500 surged to a record 4 million contracts on Tuesday, more than doubling recent levels, while the put/call skew posted its largest two-day drop since 2017, signaling a massive shift toward bullish positioning.
S&P 500 call option volume soared to an unprecedented 4.0 million contracts on Tuesday, a figure that has more than doubled over the past several weeks. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2023, daily call volume had never exceeded 2 million contracts; it averaged around 700,000 contracts per day in 2020-2021.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 put/call skew — a gauge of relative demand for downside protection versus upside exposure — registered its steepest two-day decline since 2017. The sharp drop indicates a rapid erosion of hedging interest and a powerful rotation into bullish bets.
The concurrent records point to an explosion in risk appetite among equity options traders.
Source: The Kobeissi Letter