Triple Witching 2026 Dates and Volume Data

Triple witching in 2026 falls on four dates: March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. These are the quarterly sessions when stock index futures, index options and single-stock options all reach expiration together, on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. This page lists the 2026 dates and measures what one of them does to trading volume on the real tape.

The four triple witching dates in 2026

The rule never changes: triple witching is the third Friday of each quarter-ending month. For 2026 that gives four sessions:

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

Three families of contracts settle on each of these dates: stock index futures and options on them, cash index options, and single-stock and ETF options. Single-stock options expire on the third Friday of every month; what sets the quarterly dates apart is the index futures and index options cycle stacking on top, alongside the index reconstitutions that funds trade into the closing auction on the same afternoon. For the full monthly and weekly expiration calendar, see when options expire.

Why June 2026 lands on a Thursday

June 19, 2026 is Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US market holiday. With the exchanges closed that Friday, the June quarterly expiration moves one session earlier, to Thursday, June 18, 2026. That is the standard rule for any witching date that would fall on a holiday: the expiration shifts to the preceding trading day. The other three 2026 dates land on their natural third Friday.

How much does witching lift trading volume?

The headline claim about triple witching is heavy volume. Here it is, measured: every quarterly witching session on our tape since September 2024, next to the median regular-hours dollar volume of the other sessions in the same month. Dollar volume is price times 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 is consistent. All eight witching sessions traded above their month's median, ranging from a slim 1.03x on 2025-03-21 to 1.47x on 2024-12-20. The most recent one, 2026-06-18, put $1.12 trillion of stock through regular hours against a $0.95 trillion median for June's other sessions: 1.17x a typical day. Open interest accumulates on the quarterly date over months, and the volume follows it there.

Where the extra volume lands

A witching session is not busy in an even way. It is busy at the two moments the mechanical flow concentrates: the AM-settled index contracts funnel orders into the opening auction, and the index-rebalance flow meets the expiring positions in the closing auction. The June 18 tape next to the ordinary Friday before it, in dollar volume per 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 barely differs. Interior half hours on witching day ran near $49.1 billion, close to the ordinary Friday. The two ends carry the session: the 9:30 half hour handled $212.7 billion against $132.4 billion on the normal Friday, and the closing half hour handled $213 billion against $134.1 billion. A twentieth of the trading clock, holding a fifth of its dollars: that closing window is where an index fund with billions to rebalance finds the other side.

Does triple witching make the market more volatile?

Volume and volatility are separate questions, and the second one rarely gets checked. This panel measures SPY's regular-hours high-to-low range on each witching session, as a percentage of the opening price, next to the median of the same month's other sessions, 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 is: not reliably. Witching sessions land on both sides of their month's median. 2024-12-20 ranged 2.55% against a 0.61% median, a genuinely wild day. But the most recent one, 2026-06-18, ranged just 0.58% against a 1.12% median and moved a net 0.16% open to close. The heaviest dollar-volume session of its month was also one of its calmest by price. Witching concentrates scheduled, mechanical flow, and mechanical flow is two-sided by construction: every rolled position closes in one contract and opens in another, every index add matched by a delete. Enormous volume with an ordinary price path is what that combination produces.

How to read a 2026 witching session

• Mark the four dates. March 20, June 18, September 18 and December 18. The cheapest filter in trading is a calendar.
• Discount your volume screens. Every stock reads unusual volume at once. A relative volume reading of 2x on a witching day is the calendar, not a catalyst.
• Expect depth, not drama. Liquidity is deepest at the open and the close; the range table above puts witching sessions on both sides of a normal day's swing.
• Mind expiring positions into the close. PM-settled single-stock and ETF options are decided by the closing print, flipping between worthless and in-the-money in the final minutes.

FAQ

When is triple witching in 2026?

Triple witching lands on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. In 2026 that is March 20, June 18 (moved back one day from the Juneteenth holiday on Friday, June 19), September 18 and December 18.

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

The third Friday of June 2026 is June 19, which is Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US market holiday. With exchanges closed that Friday, the quarterly expiration shifts to the preceding trading day, Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Does triple witching increase trading volume?

Yes, on the whole. Across the eight quarterly witching sessions since September 2024, every one traded above its month's median regular-hours dollar volume. The most recent, 2026-06-18, put $1.12 trillion of stock through regular hours, 1.17x the $0.95 trillion median of June's other sessions, with the open and close half hours carrying most of the excess.

Is the stock market more volatile on triple witching days?

Not reliably. Measured on SPY, witching sessions fall on both sides of their month's median intraday range: 2024-12-20 ranged 2.55% against a 0.61% median, while 2026-06-18 ranged just 0.58% against a 1.12% median. Heavy volume and a big price move are separate phenomena.

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