Market Metrics That Matter: Derivatives April 2026 Volume Highlights

May 8, 2026

April Highlights

U.S. Options

April was another strong volume month for U.S. options with 20.63 million contracts traded. Cboe's proprietary index options set a single-day record on April 14 with 9.0 million contracts traded.

SPX Volumes

  • S&P 500® Index Options (SPX) set a single-day record on April 17 with 6.7 million contracts traded.
  • SPX® had an Average Daily Volume (ADV) of 5.04 million contracts.

XSP Volumes

  • 188,000 thousand Mini S&P 500 Index Options (XSP) contracts were traded in April.

Global Trading Hours Session

  • April 8 set the third highest volume day for Global Trading Hours (GTH) with 405,000 contracts traded, driven by SPX and Cboe Volatility Index options (VIX).

U.S. Multi List Options

  • April 17 was the third best volume day with an ADV of 21.01 million contracts.

U.S. Futures

  • Cboe® iBoxx® $ Emerging Market Bond Index Futures (IEMD) open interest increased significantly from 461 contracts to 4,400 thousand contracts, likely due to the market taking a directional position from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

News and Insights

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