October's Market Landscape: Peaks and Troughs
Sometimes you look at market reports and it feels like you're staring at a rollercoaster's wild ride. This past October was a month full of twists for Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE). With trading volumes shifting dramatically across its various segments, Cboe delivered some impressive highlights against a mixed backdrop.
Positive Spikes in Index Options
Let's talk about the star of the show: index options. Cboe's proprietary index options set new records, achieving a monthly ADV of 6.9 million contracts. That’s a solid boost spurred by substantial activity in S&P 500 Index (SPX) options—hitting 5.5 million contracts alone. Mini-SPX options also joined the dance, clocking in 303 thousand contracts. Not too shabby.
And then there were the trading days that stood out. October 16 and 30 marked themselves as the busiest days on record with 10.4 million and 10.2 million contracts respectively.
- SPX and 0DTE Records: Zero-days-to-expiry (0DTE) SPX options held their own, setting a monthly ADV record of 3.6 million contracts. It looks like traders might be getting cozy with this short-term play.
- XSP's Daily Record: Not to be overshadowed, XSP options set a new daily record on October 30, with 515 thousand contracts trading hands.
GTH Session Breaks New Ground
Don't sleep on Cboe's Global Trading Hours (GTH) session—it smashed its own monthly ADV record with 284 thousand contracts. SPX trading within these hours set a daily record of 327 thousand contracts on October 1.
Soft Spots: Declines in Other Segments
As for the not-so-great news, there were definitely areas where the numbers didn't shine so bright. Multi-listed options and futures took some hits with October seeing declines of 10.3% and 8.3% respectively year-over-year.
U.S. Equities weren't left out of the slump party either. On-exchange matched shares plummeted by 24.4% compared to October 2025. That’s quite the drop, though the off-exchange activity partially cushioned the blow with a 14.9% increase over last year.
International Equities: Mixed Signals
Heading up north—Canadian equities saw a 21.8% decrease. But hey, not all was gloomy. European equities saw a modest rise, inching up 1.9% as the region continues to hold steady amidst global volatility.
Focusing on global FX, which ticked up 9.5%, reflects some resilience in Cboe's offerings.
Cboe's Trades and Divestitures
A quick note on geographic shifts—Cboe completed the sale of Cboe Australia to TMX Group Limited on July 31, 2026, clearing room to sharpen focus elsewhere. Naturally, Australian Equities were pulled from the current report.
Cboe has a longstanding legacy of innovation—let’s see where they steer next.
In a nutshell, the October stats were a mixture of high points and sore spots. With Cboe’s continued push in proprietary products and indices, you have to wonder where future focus and potential growth areas lie. Maybe we're seeing a calculated shift or simply riding the ebb and flow of markets. Only time will tell what the future holds for CBOE, as they keep pioneering in global markets.
