S&P 500 Index (SPX) 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.
Snapshot as of May 29, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $7590.19
- Call OI
- 9.7M
- Put OI
- 13.7M
- Total OI
- 23.4M
- Put/Call Ratio
- 0.87
As of May 29, 2026, S&P 500 Index (SPX) has 23.4M total contracts outstanding across all expirations. Put/call OI ratio is 1.40 (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 SPX open interest history Data Feeds Strategy Selection
Strategy selection on S&P 500 Index 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 12.6% 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 SPX open-interest data
The open-interest time-series above tracks the total S&P 500 Index 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 0.87, roughly balanced. Total call OI of 9.7M versus put OI of 13.7M gives a put/call OI ratio of 1.40 - structurally a slower-moving signal than the volume-based ratio.
SPX 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 SPX 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 SPX sits at 31 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 SPX options over the last ~40 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 2026 | 9.7M | 13.7M | 23.4M | 1.40 |
| May 28, 2026 | 9.6M | 13.5M | 23.1M | 1.40 |
| May 27, 2026 | 9.5M | 13.4M | 22.9M | 1.40 |
| May 26, 2026 | 9.6M | 13.2M | 22.8M | 1.37 |
| May 22, 2026 | 9.5M | 13.3M | 22.8M | 1.39 |
| May 21, 2026 | 9.4M | 13.2M | 22.6M | 1.40 |
| May 20, 2026 | 9.4M | 13.1M | 22.5M | 1.40 |
| May 19, 2026 | 9.4M | 12.9M | 22.3M | 1.37 |
| May 18, 2026 | 9.3M | 12.8M | 22.1M | 1.37 |
| May 15, 2026 | 9.4M | 12.8M | 22.2M | 1.37 |
| May 14, 2026 | 10.0M | 14.1M | 24.1M | 1.41 |
| May 13, 2026 | 9.8M | 13.9M | 23.7M | 1.42 |
| May 12, 2026 | 9.8M | 13.7M | 23.5M | 1.40 |
| May 11, 2026 | 9.6M | 13.5M | 23.1M | 1.40 |
| May 8, 2026 | 9.7M | 13.5M | 23.2M | 1.40 |
Frequently asked SPX open interest history questions
- What is the current SPX options open interest?
- As of May 29, 2026, S&P 500 Index (SPX) has 23.4M total contracts outstanding across all listed expirations, split as 9.7M calls and 13.7M 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 SPX put/call open interest ratio?
- Put/call OI ratio of 1.40 is put-heavy, often indicating hedging demand or bearish positioning.
- What does SPX 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.