Triple witching 2026 dates and volume data

Triple witching for 2026 dey fall on four dates: March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. Dis na di quarterly sessions wen stock index futures, index options and single-stock options all dey expire togeda, on di third Friday of March, June, September and December. Dis page dey list di 2026 dates and measure wetin one of dem dey do to trading volume on di real tape.

Di four triple witching dates for 2026

Di rule no dey ever change: triple witching na di third Friday of each quarter-ending month. For 2026, e give four sessions:

• Friday, March 20, 2026
• Thursday, June 18, 2026 (di third Friday, June 19, na di Juneteenth market holiday)
• Friday, September 18, 2026
• Friday, December 18, 2026

Three families of contracts dey settle on each of dis dates: stock index futures and options on dem, cash index options, and single-stock and ETF options. Single-stock options dey expire on di third Friday of every month; wetin set di quarterly dates apart na di index futures and index options cycle wey dey stack on top, alongside di index reconstitutions wey funds dey trade into di closing auction on di same afternoon. For di full monthly and weekly expiration calendar, check when options expire.

Why June 2026 dey land on a Thursday

June 19, 2026 na Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US market holiday. As di exchanges dey closed dat Friday, di June quarterly expiration move one session earlier, to Thursday, June 18, 2026. Dat na di standard rule for any witching date wey go fall on a holiday: di expiration dey shift to di preceding trading day. Di oda three 2026 dates dey land on dia natural third Friday.

How much witching dey lift trading volume?

Di headline claim about triple witching na heavy volume. Here e be, measured: every quarterly witching session on our tape since September 2024, next to di median regular-hours dollar volume of di oda sessions for di same month. Dollar volume na price times shares, summed across every stock during di 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET session.

WITH daily AS (
    SELECT toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) AS day,
           sum(toFloat64(close) * toFloat64(volume)) / 1e12 AS dollars_t
    FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
    WHERE window_start >= '2024-09-01 04:00:00'
      AND window_start < '2026-07-01 04:00:00'
      AND toMonth(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) IN (3, 6, 9, 12)
      AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
           + toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
    GROUP BY day
),
witching AS (
    SELECT toStartOfMonth(day) AS m,
           maxIf(day, day <= addDays(toStartOfMonth(day),
                 ((5 - toDayOfWeek(toStartOfMonth(day)) + 7) % 7) + 14)) AS witching_day
    FROM daily
    GROUP BY m
)
SELECT toString(w.witching_day) AS witching_session,
       round(anyIf(d.dollars_t, d.day = w.witching_day), 2) AS witching_dollars_t,
       round(quantileDeterministicIf(0.5)(d.dollars_t, cityHash64(toString(d.day)), d.day != w.witching_day), 2) AS other_days_median_t,
       round(anyIf(d.dollars_t, d.day = w.witching_day)
             / quantileDeterministicIf(0.5)(d.dollars_t, cityHash64(toString(d.day)), d.day != w.witching_day), 2) AS times_median
FROM daily AS d
INNER JOIN witching AS w ON toStartOfMonth(d.day) = w.m
GROUP BY w.witching_day
HAVING countIf(d.day != w.witching_day) > 0
ORDER BY w.witching_day

Di premium dey consistent. All eight witching sessions trade above dia month median, ranging from a slim 1.03x on 2025-03-21 to 1.47x on 2024-12-20. Di most recent one, 2026-06-18, put $1.12 trillion of stock through regular hours against a $0.95 trillion median for June oda sessions: 1.17x a typical day. Open interest dey accumulate on di quarterly date over months, and di volume dey follow am there.

Where di extra volume dey land

A witching session no dey busy in an even way. E dey busy at di two moments di mechanical flow dey concentrate: di AM-settled index contracts dey funnel orders into di opening auction, and di index-rebalance flow dey meet di expiring positions for di closing auction. Di June 18 tape next to di ordinary Friday before am, in dollar volume per half hour of di regular session:

SELECT formatDateTime(toStartOfInterval(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'), INTERVAL 30 minute), '%H:%i') AS et_time,
       round(sumIf(toFloat64(close) * toFloat64(volume),
                   toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) = '2026-06-18') / 1e9, 1) AS witching_dollars_b,
       round(sumIf(toFloat64(close) * toFloat64(volume),
                   toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) = '2026-06-12') / 1e9, 1) AS normal_dollars_b
FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
WHERE ((window_start >= '2026-06-12 04:00:00' AND window_start < '2026-06-13 04:00:00')
       OR (window_start >= '2026-06-18 04:00:00' AND window_start < '2026-06-19 04:00:00'))
  AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
       + toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
GROUP BY et_time
ORDER BY et_time

Di middle of di day barely differ. Interior half hours on witching day run near $49.1 billion, close to di ordinary Friday. Di two ends dey carry di session: di 9:30 half hour handle $212.7 billion against $132.4 billion on di normal Friday, and di closing half hour handle $213 billion against $134.1 billion. A twentieth of di trading clock, holding a fifth of its dollars: dat closing window na where an index fund with billions to rebalance dey find di oda side.

Triple witching dey make di market more volatile?

Volume and volatility na separate questions, and di second one dem no dey often check. Dis panel dey measure SPY regular-hours high-to-low range on each witching session, as a percentage of di opening price, next to di median of di same month oda sessions, plus di net open-to-close move.

WITH daily AS (
    SELECT toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) AS day,
           toFloat64(max(high) - min(low)) / toFloat64(argMin(open, window_start)) * 100 AS range_pct,
           abs(toFloat64(argMax(close, window_start)) - toFloat64(argMin(open, window_start)))
               / toFloat64(argMin(open, window_start)) * 100 AS net_move_pct
    FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
    WHERE ticker = 'SPY'
      AND window_start >= '2024-09-01 04:00:00'
      AND window_start < '2026-07-01 04:00:00'
      AND toMonth(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) IN (3, 6, 9, 12)
      AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
           + toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
    GROUP BY day
),
witching AS (
    SELECT toStartOfMonth(day) AS m,
           maxIf(day, day <= addDays(toStartOfMonth(day),
                 ((5 - toDayOfWeek(toStartOfMonth(day)) + 7) % 7) + 14)) AS witching_day
    FROM daily
    GROUP BY m
)
SELECT toString(w.witching_day) AS witching_session,
       round(anyIf(d.range_pct, d.day = w.witching_day), 2) AS witching_range_pct,
       round(quantileDeterministicIf(0.5)(d.range_pct, cityHash64(toString(d.day)), d.day != w.witching_day), 2) AS other_days_median_range_pct,
       round(anyIf(d.net_move_pct, d.day = w.witching_day), 2) AS witching_net_move_pct
FROM daily AS d
INNER JOIN witching AS w ON toStartOfMonth(d.day) = w.m
GROUP BY w.witching_day
HAVING countIf(d.day != w.witching_day) > 0
ORDER BY w.witching_day

Di answer be: no reliably. Witching sessions dey land on both sides of dia month median. 2024-12-20 range 2.55% against a 0.61% median, a genuinely wild day. But di most recent one, 2026-06-18, range just 0.58% against a 1.12% median and move a net 0.16% open to close. Di heaviest dollar-volume session of its month na also one of its calmest by price. Witching dey concentrate scheduled, mechanical flow, and mechanical flow na two-sided by construction: every rolled position dey close for one contract and open for anoda, every index add dey match by a delete. Enormous volume with an ordinary price path na wetin dat combination dey produce.

How to read a 2026 witching session

• Mark di four dates. March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. Di cheapest filter for trading na a calendar.
• Discount your volume screens. Every stock dey read unusual volume at once. A relative volume reading of 2x on a witching day na di calendar, no be a catalyst.
• Expect depth, no be drama. Liquidity dey deepest at di open and di close; di range table above put witching sessions on both sides of a normal day swing.
• Mind expiring positions into di close. PM-settled single-stock and ETF options dey decided by di closing print, dey flip between worthless and in-di-money for di final minutes.

FAQ

When be triple witching for 2026?

Triple witching dey land on di third Friday of March, June, September and December. For 2026, dat na March 20, June 18 (move back one day from di Juneteenth holiday on Friday, June 19), September 18 and December 18.

Why June 2026 triple witching dey on Thursday, June 18?

Di third Friday of June 2026 na June 19, wey be Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US market holiday. As exchanges dey closed dat Friday, di quarterly expiration dey shift to di preceding trading day, Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Triple witching dey increase trading volume?

Yes, on di whole. Across di eight quarterly witching sessions since September 2024, every one trade above its month median regular-hours dollar volume. Di most recent, 2026-06-18, put $1.12 trillion of stock through regular hours, 1.17x di $0.95 trillion median of June oda sessions, with di open and close half hours dey carry most of di excess.

Di stock market dey more volatile on triple witching days?

No reliably. Measured on SPY, witching sessions dey fall on both sides of dia month median intraday range: 2024-12-20 range 2.55% against a 0.61% median, while 2026-06-18 range just 0.58% against a 1.12% median. Heavy volume and a big price move na separate phenomena.

Every panel above na a stored, versioned query over di real tape. Expand di SQL under any number to audit am, or measure di next witching session yourself on di Strasmore terminal.