Market Overview

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI.US) fell by 0.98%, ending at 44,023.29 points. The NASDAQ(IXIC.US) rose by 0.18%, reaching 20,677.8 points. The S&P 500 index(SPX.US) decreased by 0.4%, closing at 6,243.76 points.

Notably, the trading volume for bearish options on the S&P 500 (SPX) reached 2.1734 million contracts, while bullish options totaled 1.8190 million contracts, resulting in a put/call ratio of approximately 1.19. This indicates a strong bearish sentiment among investors. Among these, a particular put option, SPXW 290825 P 5100, saw a trading volume of 69,100 contracts with a VOL/OI ratio of 136.33. The strike price for this contract is 5,100.00, and the option declined by 4.59%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Overnight, shares rose by 4.04%. The total options trading volume reached 4.09 million contracts, an increase of 2.4206 million from the previous day, marking a 1.44-fold surge. Open interest stands at 19.84 million contracts.

In the news, Nvidia's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, announced two major developments: the U.S. has approved the sale of H20 chips to China, and Nvidia will launch the RTX Pro GPU.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Shares climbed 6.41% overnight. The day's options trading volume hit 1.38 million contracts, up by 881,700 from the previous day, a 1.78-fold increase. Open interest is at 3.76 million contracts.

An AMD spokesperson stated that the U.S. Commerce Department has notified the company that its MI308 product license application will enter the review stage. Upon approval, AMD plans to resume exporting its MI308 chips to China, following a similar decision for Nvidia's products.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Shares fell by 1.93% overnight. Options trading volume reached 1.33 million contracts, a decrease of 4,300 from the previous day, showing no significant change in volume. Open interest is at 8.23 million contracts.

Super Micro Computer, Inc.(SMCI.US): Overnight, shares surged by 6.92%. Options trading volume totaled 670,000 contracts, an increase of 463,000 from the previous day, representing a 2.22-fold surge, with bullish options making up nearly 78%. Open interest is at 2.33 million contracts.

MicroStrategy Incorporated Class A(MSTR.US): Shares dropped by 1.93% overnight. Options trading volume was 500,000 contracts, down by 131,200 from the previous day, a 0.21-fold decrease. Open interest is at 2.43 million contracts.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Sponsored ADR(BABA.US): Shares rose by 8.09% overnight. The options trading volume reached 470,000 contracts, up by 313,200 from the previous day, marking a 2.06-fold increase, with bullish options accounting for over 77%. Open interest stands at 1.07 million contracts.

Nvidia's announcement to resume H20 chip sales to China has driven a broad rally in Chinese cloud service providers and data center sectors. Jefferies analyst Thomas Chong and others noted that this move will significantly benefit hyperscale cloud providers.

PUT/CALL: Counts the percentage of open put and call option holdings for the listed stocks during the trading day.

Options Activity Tracking:

EQT Corporation(EQT.US): Shares fell by 0.07% overnight. The call option EQT 180725 C 62, with a strike price of $62.0 expiring on July 18, 2025, saw a volume of 19,600 contracts and rose by 37.5%.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Shares rose by 6.41% overnight. Key options activity included:

• The put option AMD 180725 P 155, with a strike price of $155.0 expiring on July 18, 2025, had a volume of 62,500 contracts and dropped by 73.44%.
• The call option AMD 180725 P 155, with a strike price of $167.5, expiring on July 18, 2025, had a volume of 10,800 contracts and surged by 833.33%.

Dell Technologies Inc.(DELL.US): Shares increased by 0.02% overnight. The call option DELL_250718_C_134.0, with a strike price of $134.0 expiring on July 18, 2025, saw a volume of 15,900 contracts and declined by 25.0%.

Warner Bros Discovery(WBD.US): Shares rose by 0.17% overnight. The call option WBD_250725_C_13.0, with a strike price of $13.0 expiring on July 25, 2025, had a volume of 11,600 contracts and increased by 100.0%.

vol/oi: The ratio of options volume to the number of open positions in the contract, with higher vol/oi indicating that the market is creating an abnormal number of new positions.

Option IV Unusual Movements:

Zepp Health Corp(ZEPP.US): Shares surged by over 46% overnight. Options trading volume reached 4,801 contracts, with an implied volatility (IV) of 176.62%.

Sequans Communications SA Sponsored ADR(SQNS.US): Shares rose by over 21% overnight. Options trading volume was 169,800 contracts, with an implied volatility (IV) of 175.19%.

High IV stocks:

Source: Barchart, data as of Eastern Time, July 15, 2025.

Read More: A quick look at the pros and cons of index options!

Note: Implied volatility estimates the expected fluctuation of a stock's price and is derived from the cost of its options. High and low levels of implied volatility signify market sentiment and option supply and demand dynamics. Feeding into an option's premium, implied volatility, time value, and directional movement embody the core aspects influencing option pricing. Traders navigate their strategies within this three-dimensional framework.

Volume reflects the aggregate volume of options contracts executed in a single day.

IV Rank gauges the standing of the current implied volatility within the highest and lowest values observed over the past year, serving as a relative measure.

IV Percentile denotes the proportion of days during the past year when the implied volatility was lower than the present rate, providing a statistical norm.

IV Yearly High marks the apex of an option's implied volatility recorded within the preceding year, signaling its peak uncertainty or risk