US Options Volume Fell 4% in Q3 2026 as 0DTE Hit Record 24.2 Million

US options market-wide average daily volume reached 70.6 million contracts in the third quarter of 2026, down 4% from the record second quarter, according to Cboe Global Markets' State of the Options Industry – Q3 Update, prepared by Henry Schwartz, Vice President, Market Intelligence at Cboe. The decline did not reach all segments: zero-days-to-expiration (0DTE) options, FLEX contracts (customizable contracts with non-standard terms) and overnight trading all set new highs.

Cboe attributed the broader slowdown to macroeconomic pressure, citing "higher interest rates and energy costs" as factors affecting equities during the period. Single-stock options posted the largest decline, with average daily volume falling 8% to 32.7 million contracts. Index options volume declined 3% to 6.1 million contracts, while ETF options volume increased 1% to 28.3 million contracts.

The quarterly dip still left activity well above prior-year levels. Cboe's data shows market-wide average daily volume of 60.8 million contracts in 2025, against 48.1 million in 2024.

What does the record 0DTE figure change for execution desks?

Market-wide 0DTE volume averaged a record 24.2 million contracts per day in the quarter, roughly 36% of total options volume. Index 0DTE options averaged 3.4 million contracts daily — 56% of all index options activity. Across ETF and single-stock options, 0DTE trading reached nearly 20.8 million contracts per day, or 34% of volume in those products.

Product concentration remained pronounced. SPX was the largest index options product at approximately 4.93 million contracts per day, followed by VIX at 866,700 and XSP at approximately 201,800. In ETF options, SPY accounted for 41% of volume and QQQ 27% — together more than two-thirds of the category. In single-stock options, Nvidia took 10% of volume, Tesla 7% and Apple 5%; the ten most active names represented about 39% of single-stock volume.

How did overnight sessions perform?

Overnight trading in SPX, XSP, VIX and Russell 2000 Index (RUT) options reached nearly 288,000 contracts per day in September, close to 3% of index options activity. Cboe's Global Trading Hours session runs from 8:15 p.m. to 9:25 a.m. Eastern Time, covering Asian and European trading periods.

The report shows material cost differences across sessions. The Asian session, ending at 3 a.m. Eastern, averaged roughly 62,000 contracts daily with bid-ask spreads around three times regular-hours levels. The European session, from 3 a.m. to 9:25 a.m., recorded approximately 195,000 contracts daily, with spreads around twice regular-hours levels.

Cboe also outlined plans to introduce pre-market options trading in 27 highly liquid stocks and ETFs from October 19, 2026, running 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. Eastern. The underlying securities in the expansion collectively accounted for 53.4% of market-wide options volume.

FLEX and strategy ETFs

FLEX options volume rose 6% to a record 2.33 million contracts per day. Total open interest finished above 71 million contracts, nearly 11% of the overall options market.

US option-strategy ETFs held approximately $349.7 billion in assets under management at the end of September, according to Trackinsight data cited in the report. The largest funds were the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) at $45.6 billion, the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) at $44.7 billion, and the NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (QQQI) at $15.2 billion.

Retail flow and venue count

Retail activity slowed in July and August before Cboe reported that retail order flow "rebounded in September to all-time highs." The report linked an earlier June increase to the removal of the Pattern Day Trading (PDT) rule. Nvidia accounted for 10% of estimated retail opening single-stock options volume, followed by Tesla at 9% and Apple at 5%.

Among retail non-index strategies, long single-leg calls held the largest share at 36%, followed by long single-leg puts at 21%. Short single-leg calls accounted for 8% and short single-leg puts 6%.

Two new exchanges launched near the end of the third quarter, bringing the US options industry to 20 exchanges operated by six groups. By operator, Cboe Global Markets held the largest share at 29.9%, followed by Nasdaq at 26.7% and ICE at 19%.

The October 19 pre-market launch and the September retail record give desks two concrete benchmarks to watch when Cboe publishes its Q4 update.