- August 3, 2026
- Posted by: CoachMike
- Category: Trading Article
0DTE options are no longer a specialized corner of the options market. They now account for a substantial share of daily SPX activity, while same-day expirations continue to expand across indexes, ETFs and individual stocks.
The important issue is not simply that more traders are using them. It is that the hedging activity connected to these positions can influence how the underlying market behaves during the trading day.
When dealers are positioned one way, their hedging may suppress movement and pull price toward heavily traded strikes. When positioned another way, the same process may reinforce a breakout and accelerate price movement.
That does not mean 0DTE options always create volatility. It means traders increasingly need to understand how same-day positioning, gamma exposure and time remaining can affect intraday liquidity and price behavior.
0DTE options volume continues to set records
The growth has been impressive in S&P 500 Index options.
In 2024, SPX 0DTE options averaged approximately 1.5 million contracts per day. During 2025, average daily volume increased to 2.3 million contracts, accounting for approximately 59% of all SPX options volume.
The expansion accelerated again during 2026. In June, SPX 0DTE options reached a record average daily volume of approximately 3.3 million contracts. Second-quarter average volume was 3.1 million contracts per day.
That means SPX 0DTE volume has more than doubled since 2024—and on some measurements has nearly tripled from early 2024.
The growth is not limited to SPX. According to Cboe, total 0DTE volume across the options market exceeded 20 million contracts per day during the second quarter of 2026, a year-to-date increase of 46.2%.
Cboe also expanded Monday and Wednesday expirations into heavily traded single stocks and ETFs. Short-dated expirations in Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Broadcom and IBIT were approaching a combined six million contracts per day by the second quarter of 2026.
The implication is clear: 0DTE trading is no longer isolated to SPX trading. It is becoming part of the daily trading for individual stocks, ETFs and multiple equity indexes.
Why 0DTE Trading Has Expanded
Three features have helped turn same-day options from an occasional expiration product into a widely used intraday trading vehicle.
| Growth Driver | Why It Appeals to Traders | Important Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Initial Premium | Same-day contracts generally require less upfront capital than comparable options with several weeks remaining. | A lower premium does not make the trade safer. The probability of losing the full premium may be high, particularly with out-of-the-money contracts. |
| Daily Expiration Access | Traders can isolate a single session, economic catalyst or intraday setup without purchasing several weeks of unused time value. | Sensitivity to price movement and time decay can increase rapidly as expiration approaches. |
| Immediate Resolution | Positions reach their conclusion during the same trading day, generally avoiding overnight price exposure and releasing capital quickly. | The compressed timeline leaves little opportunity for an unfavorable position to recover. Settlement and assignment rules also vary by product. |
Bottom line: 0DTE options offer lower initial cost, daily access and rapid outcomes. None of those features makes them inherently lower-risk.
Broad Participation
0DTE activity extends beyond speculative call and put purchases. Retail traders, professional firms and institutions also use same-day options for hedging, spreads, income strategies, event protection and tactical portfolio adjustments. The product’s growth therefore reflects broader market participation—not simply an increase in short-term directional speculation.
Why 0DTE options are so sensitive to market movement
With ODTE options being so close to expiration, they are very sensitive to gamma.
Gamma measures how quickly an option’s delta changes when the underlying price moves. As expiration approaches, gamma can become extremely high for options near the current market price.
A relatively small move in the S&P 500 can cause the delta of a near-the-money option to change rapidly. A market maker hedging that position may need to buy or sell S&P futures repeatedly as the index moves.
This causes a close tie between the options market and the underlying market.
The direction of the feedback depends on the dealer’s effective gamma position. The framework below shows the typical relationship, but these are conditional tendencies—not guaranteed market outcomes.
How Gamma Positioning Can Change Intraday Price Behavior
Dealer gamma does not predict whether the market will rise or fall. It provides context for how hedging activity may respond after price begins moving.
| Dealer Position | Typical Hedging Response | Possible Market Effect | What It Means for Traders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Gamma | Dealers generally sell as the market rises and buy as it falls. | Hedging may dampen price movement, encourage rotation and help keep price near heavily traded strikes. | Breakouts may struggle to extend, while intraday moves may revert toward established levels. |
| Short Gamma | Dealers may buy as the market rises and sell as it falls. | Hedging may reinforce the original move and contribute to faster price expansion. | Breakouts, reversals and momentum moves may develop more quickly than normal. |
| Positioning Unclear | The direction and size of dealer hedge adjustments cannot be estimated reliably. | Options-related influence remains uncertain and may be outweighed by liquidity, news or normal order flow. | Give greater weight to price structure, market state and actual intraday behavior. |
This is why traders increasingly monitor large option strikes, dealer-gamma estimates and changes in positioning throughout the session.
How 0DTE trading affects intraday market behavior
Even if 0DTE options do not consistently raise average volatility, they are changing how volatility is distributed throughout the day.
Faster reactions to catalysts
Economic announcements can produce unusually rapid repricing because same-day options have very high sensitivity to movement and very little time for the forecast to develop.
A position entered before a Federal Reserve decision can move from out of the money to deeply in the money—or become nearly worthless—within minutes.
Greater attention to individual strikes
Large concentrations of same-day open interest may act like temporary support, resistance or price magnets.
When dealers are long gamma, hedging can encourage price stabilization around a heavily traded strike. If positioning shifts or the market breaks decisively through that level, the hedging flow can reverse and help accelerate the move.
These levels are not guaranteed barriers. They are areas where hedging activity may become more noticeable.
Increased late-day sensitivity
As the closing bell approaches, there is less time for an option to recover from an adverse move. Gamma becomes increasingly concentrated around the current market price, while time value disappears rapidly.
That can create sharp reversals, sudden breakouts or apparent price pinning during the final hour. The effect is often strongest when the index is close to a major strike with significant same-day positioning.
More intraday volatility trading
Traditional options strategies often express a forecast about volatility over several weeks. A 0DTE position allows a trader to isolate the volatility of a single trading session—or even a specific economic announcement.
This has made the options market more responsive to intraday information and has created a more granular market for event risk.
Does 0DTE trading affect the VIX?
Not directly.
The VIX Index is calculated using S&P 500 options with approximately 23 to 37 days remaining before expiration. Same-day options are not included directly in that calculation.
0DTE activity can still have indirect effects. If dealer hedging moves the underlying index, influences the volatility surface or changes demand for longer-dated protection, those effects may eventually appear in VIX pricing.
But heavy 0DTE volume by itself does not automatically push the VIX higher or lower.
What this means for traders
The continued growth of 0DTE options means intraday traders need to understand more than chart patterns.
Options positioning can influence when the market accelerates, stalls or gravitates toward a particular price. However, gamma estimates should be treated as context—not as precise predictions.
For anyone trading 0DTE options, several principles are especially important:
- Use defined risk and assume the entire debit or maximum spread loss is at risk.
- Avoid market orders in contracts with wide bid-ask spreads.
- Know the exact expiration and settlement rules of the product.
- Reduce position size to account for the speed of price changes.
- Monitor scheduled economic events before entering a trade.
- Do not confuse a low premium with a high-probability opportunity.
- Establish the exit plan before entering the position.
The bottom line
0DTE options have become a structural part of the U.S. market rather than a temporary trading trend.
SPX same-day volume rose from approximately 1.5 million contracts per day in 2024 to a record 3.3 million in June 2026. New expirations in individual stocks and ETFs are now expanding the market even further.
The most accurate conclusion is not that 0DTE options always create volatility. It is that they have made options positioning, dealer hedging and intraday liquidity increasingly important forces behind short-term market movement.
