S&P 500 Trading Volume Spikes at Wall Street Close: Markets Wrap

<-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://screens/DMMV","_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93c50000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">Wall Street’s massive expiration of options not only left <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://screens/WEI","_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93c50002","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">stock traders more cautious, it also drove one of the leaders of the bull market to a roller-coaster ride. <-rte-company state="{"_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93c50004","_type":"00000160-4b23-d8bd-adfd-4b3348fd0000"}">Volume soared at the close of trading.

It was estimated that <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbDocId":"SF19JXT0AFB4","_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93cd0002","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">$5.5 trillion expired during the quarterly event ominously known as “triple witching” in which derivatives contracts tied to equities, index options and futures mature. Nearly <-rte-company state="{"_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93cd0003","_type":"00000160-4b23-d8bd-adfd-4b3348fd0000"}">18 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges Friday. That’s over <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://securities/MVOLUSE%20Index","_id":"00000190-46e2-d497-a7fb-eeef93cd0004","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">55% above the three-month average.

It’s ‘triple witching’ day.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

This time around, Nvidia Corp. played an added role. The value of contracts tied to the chipmaker due ...