The Chicago Board Options Exchange® (CBOE®) announced today that it will expand trading hours for both CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX® Index) options and S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, adding more than six hours of additional trading five days a week. The extended hours for VIX options are set to begin Monday, March 2, while the extended hours for SPX options are expected to start on Monday, March 9.
The expanded trading hours for VIX and SPX options at CBOE will run Monday through Friday, beginning each day at 2:00 a.m. CT and ending at 8:15 a.m. CT. The 2:00 a.m. CT start in Chicago syncs with the 8:00 a.m. open of trading in London.
“Following the successful rollout of extended trading hours for VIX futures, we look forward to expanding trading for both SPX and VIX options by more than six hours a day,” CBOE Holdings CEO Edward T. Tilly said. “Overseas investors continue to embrace SPX and VIX options as a means to efficiently gain exposure to the U.S. market and equity market volatility, respectively. We’re pleased to provide a growing worldwide customer base with greater access for trading these key products.”
Over the last several years, CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE®) lengthened its extended trading hours in VIX futures to accommodate customer requests for longer trading sessions outside of regular U.S. trading hours. Most recently, in June of 2014, trading in VIX futures was expanded to nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week. In 2014, approximately 4.3 million VIX futures contracts traded during non-U.S. trading hours, representing nearly nine percent of CFE’s total volume.
For additional information regarding VIX and SPX options extended trading hours, refer to www.cboe.com/ETH.