E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) (ESU6) Open Interest History
Open interest tracks the total number of outstanding options contracts. Rising OI alongside price moves can indicate growing commitment to the trend; declining OI suggests positions are being closed.
E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) (ESU6) operates in the Equity Index Futures sector, specifically the Equity Index Futures industry, listed on CME. E-mini S&P 500 Futures September 2026 contract: CME E-mini S&P 500 futures (ES): the most liquid US equity index futures contract, tracking the S&P 500 index.
Snapshot as of Aug 28, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $7724.75
- Call OI
- 637.7K
- Put OI
- 1.5M
- Total OI
- 2.1M
- Put/Call Ratio
- 2.74
As of Aug 28, 2026, E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) (ESU6) has 2.1M total contracts outstanding across all expirations. Put/call OI ratio is 2.31 (put-heavy positioning, often indicating hedging or bearish bias). Open interest reflects accumulated positions from prior sessions; persistent growth indicates sustained directional or hedging interest, while sharp drops typically mean post-expiration clean-up.
How ESU6 open interest history Data Feeds Strategy Selection
Strategy selection on E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) options does not derive from any single metric in isolation. The open interest history view above sits inside a broader read: ATM IV currently sits at 6.2% and dealer gamma exposure is positive, so dealer hedging is mechanically mean-reverting. Combine the open interest history data here with the volatility-skew surface, dealer-gamma exposure, max-pain level, and upcoming-events calendar to build a positioning thesis. Risk-defined structures (credit spreads, debit spreads, iron condors) are usually safer than naked positions while the regime is uncertain; the data on this page anchors the inputs but does not by itself constitute a trade thesis.
How to read the ESU6 open-interest data
The open-interest time-series above tracks the total E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) options inventory outstanding day by day. OI is a stock measure - the cumulative position count - so trends flag accumulating or distributing positioning. Current put/call ratio is 2.74, put-heavy - protective or bearish positioning dominates. Total call OI of 637.7K versus put OI of 1.5M gives a put/call OI ratio of 2.31 - structurally a slower-moving signal than the volume-based ratio.
ESU6 flow vs positioning
Volume tells you what flows happened today; OI tells you what positions accumulated. Both can move in opposite directions: rising volume with falling OI means contracts are being closed (covering); rising volume with rising OI means new positions are being opened. The combination matters more than either alone for reading sentiment. Combined with the current positive dealer-gamma regime, large OI clusters tend to act as price magnets through expiration cycles.
Using ESU6 OI/volume data alongside other surfaces
Per-strike OI is the input to dealer-gamma calculations: strikes with elevated call OI generate gamma walls that dealers must hedge into as spot approaches them. The gamma-exposure page combines this distribution with the dealers' assumed-long-gamma assumption to project hedge flow. Volume cross-checks recent positioning shifts in the chain that haven't yet shown up in cumulative OI. Pair both with the term-structure view on the volatility page to determine whether the activity is concentrated in near-dated event hedging or longer-dated structural positioning. Front-month expiration for ESU6 sits at 21 days, so near-dated volume currently dominates the flow reading.
Learn how open interest is reported and how to read the data →
Daily open-interest history for ESU6 options over the last ~42 trading days. Each row reflects the end-of-day total OI summed across all listed strikes and expirations.
Most recent 15 trading days (descending). Older history appears in the chart above.
| Date | Call OI | Put OI | Total OI | P/C OI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2026 | 637.7K | 1.5M | 2.1M | 2.31 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | 627.1K | 1.4M | 2.0M | 2.23 |
| Aug 26, 2026 | 635.1K | 1.4M | 2.1M | 2.23 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | 622.5K | 1.4M | 2.1M | 2.32 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 600.9K | 1.4M | 2.0M | 2.38 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 796.4K | 1.8M | 2.6M | 2.26 |
| Aug 20, 2026 | 794.4K | 1.8M | 2.6M | 2.24 |
| Aug 19, 2026 | 768.6K | 1.8M | 2.5M | 2.29 |
| Aug 18, 2026 | 765.4K | 1.7M | 2.5M | 2.28 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | 785.8K | 1.7M | 2.5M | 2.18 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 906.0K | 1.8M | 2.7M | 1.95 |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 876.1K | 1.7M | 2.5M | 1.90 |
| Aug 12, 2026 | 872.4K | 1.7M | 2.5M | 1.91 |
| Aug 11, 2026 | 862.1K | 1.6M | 2.5M | 1.90 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | 870.6K | 1.6M | 2.5M | 1.89 |
Frequently asked ESU6 open interest history questions
- What is the current ESU6 options open interest?
- As of Aug 28, 2026, E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September 2026) (ESU6) has 2.1M total contracts outstanding across all listed expirations, split as 637.7K calls and 1.5M puts. Open interest reflects accumulated positions from prior trading sessions; it does not include today's volume until end-of-day reconciliation.
- What is the ESU6 put/call open interest ratio?
- Put/call OI ratio of 2.31 is put-heavy, often indicating hedging demand or bearish positioning.
- What does ESU6 open interest tell traders?
- Persistent OI growth indicates sustained directional or hedging interest; sharp drops typically mean post-expiration position cleanup. Heavy OI concentrations at specific strikes act as support and resistance levels because dealer hedging amplifies near those strikes - the gamma profile of the dealer book is concentrated there. Comparing today's volume to standing OI separates opening flow from closing flow.