The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that volume in the newly launched options on the CBOE Volatility Index, VIX (options ticker symbol VIX), totaled 17,846 cleared contracts (15,156 calls and 2,690 puts) on Thursday, March 2nd.
VIX options were launched just last Friday, February 24, getting off to a strong start, with almost 10,0000 contracts trading on the first day. Volume continues to be strong, with average daily volume of 9,171 contracts, for a total of 45,855 contracts trading through Thursday. Open interest stood at 24,892 contracts (15,874 calls and 9,018 puts) on Friday morning.
VIX closed fractionally lower, at 11.72 on Thursday, with a high of 11.95 and low of 11.56 for the day.
VIX is the benchmark index commonly referred to as the markets fear gauge, and for the first time, investors now have the opportunity to trade options on this premier measure of market volatility and investor sentiment.
The VIX price is calculated and disseminated by the CBOE throughout the trading day. VIX futures (futures ticker symbol VX) have been available on the all-electronic CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) since 2004.