Options activity moderated in the third quarter of 2026 as macroeconomic factors including higher interest rates and energy costs impacted equities. Market-wide average daily option volume (ADV) was 70.6 million contracts daily, four percent below the record levels seen in the second quarter.
Single stock options had the greatest decline, down 8% to an ADV of 32.7 million, while index options ADV slowed three percent to 6.1 million. ETF options ADV ticked up 1% to 28.3 million.
Average Daily Options Volume by Product Type
Source: Cboe LiveVol, Cboe DataShop
Data indicates retail order flow rebounded in September to all-time highs following a slower July and August that followed an increase in June when the Pattern Day Trading (PDT) rule was removed.
Estimated Retail Broker Options Average Daily Volume
Source: Cboe LiveVol, Source Rule 6060 and DART Disclosures
Market-wide zero days to expiry (0DTE) options volume hit a record ADV of 24.2 million contracts in Q3, making up approximately 36% of overall options volume. 0DTE index options volume averaged 3.4 million contracts daily, or 56% of the index flow, while activity in 0DTE ETF and Single Stock options totaled nearly 20.8 million contracts daily, 34% of the flow.
Evolution of 0DTE
Source: Cboe LiveVol
Extended hours trading activity continues to expand, with overnight Global Trading Hours (8:15 p.m. ET to 9:25 a.m. ET) in SPX, XSP, VIX and RUT setting a record in September near 288,000 contracts daily, representing nearly 3% of the index options activity.
Extended and Global Trading Hours Volume by Product Type
Source: Cboe LiveVol
To further support the growing Global Trading Hours segment, Cboe just launched [SA1] pre-market trading (7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET) of options on 27 highly liquid underlying stocks and ETF, which collectively represent 53.4% of the market volume.
FLEX Options volume rose six percent to a record 2.33 million contracts per day, with total open interest finishing above 71 million contracts — nearly 11 percent of the market.
FLEX Options Activity
In other industry news, two new exchanges launched near quarter-end, bringing the industry total to 20, run by six operators.
Download the full State of the Options Industry report to learn more about how the market performed in Q3.
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