Options Clearing Corporation reported 1,619,684,735 cleared options contracts in October 2026, a 3.3% decline from the corresponding month of 2025. The headline masks sharply different movements within the product groups. Equity options fell 21.6% to 751.9 million contracts, while ETF options rose 21.7% to 714.0 million and index options increased 19.0% to 153.9 million.[1]
The arithmetic reveals a change in market composition. Equity options accounted for approximately 46.4% of October options volume, and ETFs for 44.1%; index products supplied the remaining 9.5%. Put another way, a near-equivalent quantity of ETF options was cleared as equity options despite the two categories moving in opposite directions from a year earlier. Those shares are calculated from OCC’s published contract counts.[1]
Year-to-date average daily volume tells a different story from the single-month year-on-year comparison. Through October, total contracts including futures averaged 71,118,419 a trading day, 17.9% above the equivalent 2025 period. A weak October against October 2025 does not, therefore, establish a weak full-year clearing trend. Readers need the period and denominator each time the data are quoted.[1]
OCC October year-on-year comparison
| Measure or condition | Verified scope |
|---|---|
| Equity options | 751,858,666 contracts; −21.6% |
| ETF options | 713,968,067 contracts; +21.7% |
| Index options | 153,858,002 contracts; +19.0% |
| All options | 1,619,684,735 contracts; −3.3% |
| Futures | 5,314,632 contracts; −10.8% |
| Total including futures | 1,624,999,367 contracts; −3.3% |
OCC’s separate futures segment amounted to 5,314,632 October contracts, down 10.8% year on year. Total cleared options and futures combined reached 1,624,999,367, also 3.3% lower. The report also disclosed an average daily securities-loan value of about $223.4 billion, up 7.8%, but that dollar measure is not contract volume and should not be blended into options totals.[1]
For brokers and clearing participants, the divergence can affect capacity planning, margin processing and client product demand. A platform positioned around single-name options could see a different opportunity from one focused on ETF and broad-market derivatives, even when overall monthly volume barely changes. The release does not identify which retail brokers gained or lost market share.[1]
OCC reports clearing activity, not the profitability of member broker-dealers or the effective spreads paid by customers. Contract volume can be influenced by hedging and complex trading strategies as well as directional speculation. The data support a material shift in where activity occurred, not a simple claim that individual investors abandoned equities for index products.[1]
Sources & further reading
- October 2026 monthly volume report Options Clearing Corporation · 3 Nov 2026 · Accessed 5 Nov 2026