Market Overview

As of the latest intraday close on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI.US) fell 386.51 points, or 0.84%, after surging more than 700 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 index(SPX.US) dropped 1.56%, while the NASDAQ(IXIC.US) plunged 2.16%, despite hitting an intraday high of 2.6% earlier. All three major indices witnessed a dramatic reversal, shifting from strong early gains to sharp declines in the afternoon. The steep sell-off in tech giants highlighted the market's shift from previous euphoria to caution, with volatility dominating sentiment.

Notably, bearish sentiment was evident in the options market. The trading volume for S&P 500 (S&P 500 index(SPX.US)) put options reached 3.4719 million contracts, compared to 2.8768 million call options, resulting in a put-to-call volume ratio of approximately 1.21. This suggests a stronger inclination among investors to bet on downside risks for the index. Among the most active contracts, the SPX call option SPXW 241125 C 6755 recorded a trading volume of 4,700 contracts, with a VOL/OI ratio of 30.31. The strike price for this contract is $6,755.00, and its value plummeted by 90.12% during the session.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): As of the latest intraday close, NVIDIA shares fell 3.15%. The total options volume reached 6.44 million contracts, up 3.0919 million from the previous day, marking a 0.92-fold increase. Call options made up 66.09%, while put options accounted for 33.91%. Open interest stood at 21.61 million contracts. Earlier in the day, NVIDIA's stock rose by 5% but closed down 3%. Despite CEO Jensen Huang's remarks on overwhelming demand for Blackwell chips and denial of an AI bubble, concerns prevailed.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Tesla's stock dropped 2.17%, with options trading volume hitting 3.45 million contracts, an increase of 1.8927 million from the prior day, showing a 1.22 times rise. Open interest was 8.36 million contracts.

Palantir(PLTR.US): Palantir shares fell 5.85%, with a total options volume of 1.35 million contracts, up by 735,500 from the previous day, a 1.19 times increase. Open interest was 3.91 million contracts.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) declined 7.84%, with options volume reaching 1.22 million contracts, a rise of 559,100 from the previous day, a 0.85 times increase. Open interest stood at 3.97 million contracts. Reports indicate AMD and Cisco will co-invest with Saudi AI startup HUMAIN to develop up to 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure by 2030, with an initial deployment of 100 megawatts in Saudi Arabia.

Meta Platforms(META.US): Meta's stock decreased by 0.2%, with options volume at 1.12 million contracts, up by 601,100 from the previous day, a 1.13 times increase. Open interest was 3.35 million contracts.

Apple Inc.(AAPL.US): Apple shares fell 0.86%, with options volume totaling 1.01 million contracts, an increase of 491,200 from the previous day, a 0.95 times rise. Open interest was 5.85 million contracts.

Strategy (MSTR.US): Strategy shares dropped 5.02%, with options volume reaching 920,000 contracts, up by 362,900 from the prior day, a 0.65 times increase. Open interest was 3.03 million contracts.

Alphabet Inc. Class A(GOOGL.US): Alphabet's stock fell 1.15%, with options volume at 900,000 contracts, a decrease of 85,800 from the previous day, a 0.09 times drop. Open interest stood at 3.84 million contracts. Earlier in the day, shares rose over 4.6% following reports that robotics startup Physical Intelligence raised $600 million in a new funding round led by a Google-backed fund, valuing the company at $5.6 billion. The startup focuses on developing AI software to help robots learn a wide range of tasks.

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

Options Activity Tracking:

Rocket Lab(RKLB.US): As of the latest intraday close, Rocket Lab shares fell 9.49%, closing at 39.48. The put option RKLB 281125 P 34, with a strike price of 34.0 and expiring on November 28, 2025, saw trading volume of 14,900 contracts and a VOL/OI ratio of 132.97. This option surged by 280.0%. Rocket Lab has planned its next Electron rocket launch mission, "Follow My Speed." If successful, this will mark the third time in 12 months that Rocket Lab completes two consecutive launches within 48 hours. With this upcoming mission, Rocket Lab aims to achieve a record 18 launches in a year. Following the stock's sharp drop, investors are building large positions in put options, likely for hedging or short-term speculation, reflecting growing concerns about RKLB's short-term outlook.

Pfizer Inc.(PFE.US): Pfizer's stock decreased by 1.93%, closing at 24.40. The put option PFE 261225 P 23, with a strike price of 23.0 and expiring on December 26, 2025, saw trading volume of 30,300 contracts and a VOL/OI ratio of 85.24, rising by 30.0%. This activity suggests investors are heavily buying put options, possibly anticipating further downside risk for Pfizer's stock. It's important to monitor upcoming fundamental news for Pfizer.

Robinhood(HOOD.US): Robinhood shares dropped 10.11%, closing at 106.21. The put option HOOD 051225 P 75, with a strike price of 75.0 and expiring on December 5, 2025, saw trading volume of 8,300 contracts and a VOL/OI ratio of 77.25, increasing by 191.67%. The decline in Bitcoin prices has contributed to the drop in high-momentum stocks like Robinhood.

Wells Fargo & Company(WFC.US): Wells Fargo shares fell 2.09%, closing at 82.4. The call option WFC 150127 C 55, with a strike price of 55.0 and expiring on January 15, 2027, saw trading volume of 7,000 contracts and a VOL/OI ratio of 67.51, decreasing by 9.12%.

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.

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