The CBOE equity put-call ratio, which is a reflection of options trading volume, surged to its latest record high of the year, reflecting traders’ growing reliance on options during a volatile year, market strategists said.
The gauge is a measure of trading volume in options tied to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds, as Callie Cox, an equity strategist at eToro, explained. U.S. stocks were trading sharply lower on Thursday as the S&P 500 SPX , Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and Nasdaq Composite COMP erased all of their gains from the prior session — the best day for stocks in three weeks — and then some.