Options Spy | Mixed Sentiment in Index Options, Aggressive Tesla Call Buying This Week

U.S. economic indicators point to steady expansion, and the market expects the Federal Reserve to achieve a soft landing. The S&P 500 hit its 22nd record high this year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also set a new closing high record.

• The overall options trading on the S&P 500 index showed a slightly bearish bias. Open interest in put options far exceeded call options, with a surge in open interest for May options.

• The most actively traded new call option was the April 5th expiry with a $530 strike price, with 40,000 new openings, mainly buy-to-open orders, suggesting expectations of a 1.3% rise in the S&P 500 over the next week.

• For Tesla, due to the company raising prices on some vehicle models, options activity showed that the $187.5 call options expiring on April 5th were aggressively bought by large investors, with a trading volume of 30,100 contracts.

Details:

The S&P 500 options showed an overall slightly bearish trading intention, with open interest in put options far exceeding call options, especially a surge in May open interest.

The top new call option was the $SPY 20240405 530.0 CALL$  with a strike of 530 and April 5th expiry, seeing 40,000 new openings. The top new put option was the $SPY 20240517 430.0 PUT$  with a strike of 430 and May 17th expiry, seeing 150,000 new openings.

The top new put opener, $SPY 20240517 430.0 PUT$ , was predominantly sell-to-open orders.

The top new call opener, $SPY 20240405 530.0 CALL$ , was mainly buy-to-open orders. Calculated from the closing price of 523.07, it implies expectations of a 1.3% rise in the S&P 500 over the next week.

On April 1st, Tesla (TSLA) announced that it would raise prices for some of its vehicle models in China and the United States. In the U.S., the price of the Model Y increased by $1,000 to $44,990, while the price of the Model Y AWD Long Range version rose to $49,990. In China, the prices of the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive, Long Range, and Performance versions were adjusted upward by 5,000 yuan to 263,900 yuan, 304,900 yuan, and 368,900 yuan, respectively. Options activity showed that the $187.5 call option expiring on April 5th ($TSLA 20240405 187.5 CALL$ ) was heavily bought on Friday, with a peak trading volume of 30,100 contracts.