Market Overview

As of market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI.US) rose by 0.77%, ending at 44,828.53 points. The NASDAQ(IXIC.US) increased by 1.02%, closing at 20,601.1 points, while the S&P 500 index(SPX.US) gained 0.83%, finishing at 6,279.35 points.

Notably, the trading volume for put options on the SPX reached 1.5013 million contracts, while call options saw a volume of 1.2690 million contracts. The put/call ratio was approximately 1.18, indicating a stronger bearish sentiment among investors for this index. Among these, the SPX put option SPXW 070725 P 6225 had a trading volume of 8,600 contracts, with a VOL/OI ratio of 41.69. The strike price of this contract was $ 6,225.00, and the option price decreased by 76.82%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Overnight, the stock rose 1.33%, with daily options volume reaching 3.37 million contracts, an increase of 876,900 from the previous day, representing a 0.35-fold increase. Open interest stood at 19.87 million contracts.

During Thursday's session, NVIDIA's market cap briefly surpassed $3.9 trillion. Several institutions are optimistic about its potential to exceed $4 trillion, making it the highest market cap in history.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Overnight, the stock fell 0.1%, with daily options volume totaling 1.92 million contracts, a decrease of 889,200 from the previous day, representing a 0.32-fold decrease. Open interest was at 8.63 million contracts.

Tesla's global vehicle sales for the second quarter dropped 13.5% year-on-year, falling short of analysts' expectations, reflecting weak demand. Additionally, the departure of executive Omead Afshar could impact operations. Market concerns arose from a dispute between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, who hinted at possible investigations into Musk's subsidies.

Apple Inc.(AAPL.US): Overnight, the stock rose 0.52%, with daily options volume reaching 1.05 million contracts, a decrease of 776,500 from the previous day, representing a 0.42-fold decrease. Open interest was at 5.43 million contracts.

Thursday's data revealed that Apple's iPhone sales in China grew 8% year-on-year in the second quarter, marking the first quarterly growth since 2023.

Robinhood(HOOD.US): Overnight, the stock fell 3.65%, with daily options volume reaching 770,000 contracts, a decrease of 546,400 from the previous day, representing a 0.42-fold decrease. Open interest was at 2.44 million contracts.

OpenAI clarified on Wednesday that it has not partnered with Robinhood to launch stock tokens. OpenAI stated it is not involved in or supportive of this initiative.

Amazon.com, Inc.(AMZN.US): Overnight, the stock rose 1.59%, with daily options volume reaching 650,000 contracts, an increase of 163,600 from the previous day, representing a 0.34-fold increase. Open interest stood at 3.93 million contracts.

Palantir(PLTR.US): Overnight, the stock rose 1.7%, with daily options volume reaching 510,000 contracts, a decrease of 64,000 from the previous day, representing a 0.11-fold decrease. Open interest was at 3.45 million contracts.

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

Options Activity Tracking:

Alight(ALIT.US): Overnight, the stock rose 1.01%. The call option ALIT 180725 C 6, with a strike price of $6.0 and expiring on July 18, 2025, saw a volume of 36,400 contracts, increasing by 70.0%.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.(NCLH.US): Overnight, the stock rose 2.85%. The call option NCLH 030725 C 22.5, with a strike price of $22.5 and expiring on July 3, 2025, had a volume of 30,400 contracts, decreasing by 50.0%.

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.(DJT.US): Overnight, the stock rose 4.18%. The put option DJT 110725 P 18.5, with a strike price of $18.5 and expiring on July 11, 2025, saw a volume of 24,300 contracts, decreasing by 61.73%.

Unity Software Inc.(U.US): Overnight, the stock rose 7.62%. The call option U 110725 C 27.5, with a strike price of $27.5 and expiring on July 11, 2025, had a volume of 18,400 contracts, increasing by 212.5%.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Overnight, the stock fell 0.1%. The put option TSLA 110725 P 90, with a strike price of $90.0 and expiring on July 11, 2025, saw a volume of 18,500 contracts, with no change in price.

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:

BigBear.ai Holdings(BBAI.US): The stock rose over 2%, with daily options volume reaching 210,000 contracts. Call options accounted for 58% of the total volume, and the implied volatility was 155.66%.

Previously, the company announced the deployment of its biometric software at key airports like JFK in New York, LAX in Los Angeles, and O'Hare in Chicago to enhance passenger processing.

High IV stocks:

Source: Barchart, data as of Eastern Time, July 3, 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