Triple Witching 2026 Dates and Volume Data

Triple witching for 2026 go happen on four dates: March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. Na quarterly trading sessions be these, when stock index futures, index options and single-stock options all reach expiry together, for the third Friday of March, June, September and December. This page list the 2026 dates and measure wetin one of dem do to trading volume for the actual tape.

The four triple witching dates for 2026

The rule no dey change: triple witching na the third Friday for every quarter-ending month. For 2026, the four sessions be:

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

Three families of contracts dey settle on each of these dates: stock index futures and options on top of dem, cash index options, plus single-stock and ETF options. Single-stock options dey expire on the third Friday of every month. Wetin make the quarterly dates different na say index futures and index options cycle dey stack on top, together with index reconstitutions wey funds trade into the closing auction that same afternoon. For the complete monthly and weekly expiration calendar, see when options expire.

Why June 2026 land for Thursday

June 19, 2026 na Juneteenth National Independence Day, wey be US market holiday. Since exchanges go close that Friday, June quarterly expiration go move one session earlier, to Thursday, June 18, 2026. Na the standard rule for any witching date wey go fall on holiday: expiration go shift go the trading day before am. The other three 2026 dates go fall on their normal third Friday.

Witching dey increase trading volume by how much?

The main claim about triple witching na say volume dey heavy. Here, we measure am: every quarterly witching session for our tape since September 2024, beside the median regular-hours dollar volume for the other sessions inside the same month. Dollar volume na price multiply by shares, summed across every stock during the 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

The premium dey consistent. All eight witching sessions trade above their month median. The range na from slim 1.03x on 2025-03-21 reach 1.47x on 2024-12-20. The latest one, 2026-06-18, put $1.12 trillion worth of stock through regular hours, against $0.95 trillion median for June other sessions: 1.17x a normal day. Open interest dey build up over months for the quarterly date, and volume dey follow am there.

Wey the extra volume dey land

Witching session no dey busy evenly. E dey busy for the two moments wey mechanical flow gather: AM-settled index contracts dey push orders enter the opening auction, while index-rebalance flow dey meet positions wey dey expire for the closing auction. The June 18 tape beside the ordinary Friday before am, measured by dollar volume for every half hour of the 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

The middle of the day hardly different. Interior half hours on witching day dey near $49.1 billion, close to the ordinary Friday. Na the two ends carry the session: the 9:30 half hour handle $212.7 billion against $132.4 billion on the normal Friday, while the closing half hour handle $213 billion against $134.1 billion. One-twentieth of the trading clock, but e hold one-fifth of the dollars: na that closing window be where index fund wey get billions to rebalance dey find the other side.

Triple witching dey make market more volatile?

Volume and volatility na separate matter, and people rarely dey check the second one. This panel measure SPY regular-hours high-to-low range for each witching session, as percentage of opening price. E compare am with median of other sessions for the same month, plus the 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

The answer na: e no dey happen reliably. Witching sessions fit land for either side of their month median. 2024-12-20 range na 2.55% against 0.61% median, making am a genuinely wild day. But the latest one, 2026-06-18, range just 0.58% against 1.12% median and make net 0.16% move from open to close. The session with the highest dollar-volume for that month also be one of the calmest by price. Witching dey concentrate scheduled, mechanical flow. Mechanical flow dey move both ways by design: every rolled position close for one contract and open for another, while every index add get matching delete. Na that combination dey produce very large volume with ordinary price movement.

How to read 2026 witching session

• Mark the four dates. March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. Calendar na the cheapest filter for trading.
• Discount your volume screens. Every stock dey show unusual volume at once. relative volume reading of 2x on witching day na the calendar, no be catalyst.
• Expect depth, not drama. Liquidity dey deepest for the open and close; range table above show say witching sessions dey both sides of normal day's swing.
• Mind expiring positions into the close. PM-settled single-stock and ETF options dey decided by the closing print, and dem fit switch between worthless and in-the-money for the final minutes. If you wan see which strikes get the most riding on that print, max pain dey work out the calculation on real SPY chain and check how close settlement really land.

FAQ

2026 triple witching na when?

Triple witching dey happen for the third Friday of March, June, September and December. For 2026, the dates na March 20, June 18 (e move go back one day because Juneteenth holiday dey happen on Friday, June 19), September 18 and December 18.

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

The third Friday for June 2026 na June 19. That day na Juneteenth National Independence Day, wey be US market holiday. Since exchanges go close that Friday, the quarterly expiration go shift go the previous trading day, Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Triple witching dey increase trading volume?

Yes, generally. For the eight quarterly witching sessions since September 2024, every one of dem trade above the median regular-hours dollar volume for that month. The latest one, 2026-06-18, move $1.12 trillion worth of stock during regular hours. That one be 1.17x the $0.95 trillion median for June’s other sessions. The open and close half-hours carry most of the extra volume.

Stock market dey more volatile on triple witching days?

E no dey happen reliably. Based on SPY, witching sessions fall on both sides of their month’s median intraday range. 2024-12-20 range be 2.55% against 0.61% median, while 2026-06-18 range only be 0.58% against 1.12% median. Heavy volume and big price movement na two different things.

Every panel above na stored, versioned query wey use the real tape. You fit expand the SQL under any number to audit am, or measure the next witching session yourself for the Strasmore terminal.