Cboe Global Markets has released its April 2026 trading statistics, showing stronger activity in key options segments across its global business lines. The monthly figures also indicate weaker U.S. equities and futures volumes, while several proprietary index products reach record or near-record trading levels.
Highlights
- Cboe reports April 2026 average daily index options volume up 23.0% year over year to 6.257 million contracts, as U.S. equities trading drops 20.8%.
- Cboe’s proprietary index options set a record with 9.0 million contracts traded on April 14, while SPX options hit 6.7 million on April 17.
- April marks second-highest monthly average daily volume for proprietary index options (6.3 million), SPX options (5.0 million), XSP (188,000), and Global Trading Hours (175,000).
April trading trends across asset classes
According to Cboe, Cboe Global Markets’ monthly Volume & RPC/Net Revenue Capture Report outlines April trading statistics, market share by business segment, selected index product volumes and net revenue capture reported on a one-month lag.
In April 2026, average daily volume in multi-listed options rises 8.4% from a year earlier to 14.374 million contracts, while index options climb 23.0% to 6.257 million contracts. Futures volume falls 28.0% year over year to 222,000 contracts, and U.S. equities on-exchange matched share volume declines 20.8% to 1.677 billion shares.
Compared with March 2026, multi-listed options edge up 1.2%, while index options drop 9.0% and futures fall 34.1%. Year to date through April, multi-listed options average daily volume increases 5.1% and index options advance 27.1%, while futures are up 1.1% from the same period a year earlier.
Record activity in proprietary index options
Cboe says its proprietary index options post a single-day record on April 14, with 9.0 million contracts traded. S&P 500 Index, SPX, options also set a single-day record on April 17, with 6.7 million contracts traded.
Several areas of the business record their second-highest monthly average daily volume on record in April, including proprietary index options at 6.3 million contracts, SPX options at 5.0 million, mini-SPX options, XSP, at 188,000 contracts, and trading during Cboe’s Global Trading Hours session at 175,000 contracts. The results point to continued strength in index-based derivatives even as cash equities and futures activity softens.
Tokenization and blockchain-based settlement rails in traditional finance were the focus of our earlier coverage, as major institutions outlined how these systems are moving from pilots to live operations. We noted that platforms from Citigroup and JPMorgan are already processing growing real-world volumes, while DTCC is gradually shifting parts of its clearing and settlement stack onto a shared digital layer to reduce frictions in areas like liquidity and cross-border payments.
This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.