Due to investors awaiting the upcoming release of March Consumer Price Index (CPI) data and the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes, the stock market traded in a volatile range closing flat. Elon Musk stated that Tesla will launch its Robotaxi in August, driving Tesla shares up nearly 5%. Blockchain concept stocks also outperformed the broader market, following the rise in Bitcoin prices. The options market showed divergence and caution towards the future outlook for the S&P 500 and financial stocks, but with a slight bullish bias as call options had a relative edge. However, institutions have also implemented some defensive positioning in the near-term, leaving room for a moderate bearish outlook.
The S&P 500 futures (SPY) options market showed a slightly bullish overall trading bias, with an increase in call option open interest, though put option open interest saw a modest pullback.
With key CPI data and Fed minutes due this week, most of the new options positioning was concentrated in options expiring this week.
Financial stock options (XLF) displayed an overall bullish trading bias, with both call and put open interest levels among historical highs. Far-dated put options saw substantial increases.
Details:
SPY options overall evaluation showed a slightly bullish trading bias, with call option open interest rising and put option open interest modestly pulling back. Due to this week's CPI data and Fed minutes releases, new options positioning was mainly focused on this week's expiries.
The top new call opener was the $SPY 20240409 523.0 CALL$ with a 523 strike expiring April 9th, seeing 14,000 new openings. The top new put opener was the $SPY 20240503 495.0 PUT$ with a 495 strike expiring May 3rd, with 10,000 new openings.
The top two new call openers were sellers, while the top new put opener was a buyer.
For the financial ETF (XLF) options, the overall trading bias was bullish, with call and put open interest among historically high levels.
The top new XLF call opener was the $XLF 20240419 42.5 CALL$ with a 42.5 strike expiring April 19th, seeing 22,000 new buy openings. The top new put opener was the $XLF 20240920 35.0 PUT$ with a 35 strike expiring September 20th, with 73,000 new buy openings.
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