On May 9, 2025, in the Taiwan Stock Index Options Market, proprietary traders are bearish, while foreign investors maintain a net long position in call options.

On May 9, 2025, the three major institutional investors showed divergent operations in the Taiwan options market. Proprietary traders took a bearish stance, net selling 2,653 call options and net buying 3,754 put options. Foreign investors maintained a net long position on call options, net buying 1,743 call options and slightly net selling 166 put options. Investment trusts did not conduct any trading. This reflects the different strategies institutional investors use to respond to market risks.

Proprietary Traders' Operations Overview: Reducing Call Option Positions, Increasing Put Option Positions

According to data released by the Taiwan Futures Exchange, proprietary traders showed a clear bearish tendency in the Taiwan Index options market on May 9, 2025. On that day, proprietary traders bought 66,300 call options and sold 68,953, resulting in a net sell of 2,653 contracts. In terms of put options, they bought 67,236 contracts and sold 63,482, resulting in a net buy of 3,754 contracts.

These position changes indicate that proprietary traders adopted a defensive or bearish strategy in the options market that day by reducing call option positions and increasing put option positions. Such operations may be related to their hedging needs or risk management of short-term market volatility, especially in the context of heightened fluctuations in the spot market, where proprietary traders might choose to adjust options positions to hedge potential risks.

Foreign Investors' Operations Overview: Maintaining Net Long in Call Options, Slight Reduction in Put Options

Unlike proprietary traders, foreign investors maintained a net long position in call options in the Taiwan Index options market on May 9. On that day, foreign investors bought 36,910 call options and sold 35,167, resulting in a net buy of 1,743 contracts. In terms of put options, they bought 35,936 contracts and sold 36,102, resulting in a net sell of 166 contracts.

The operations of foreign investors show that they remain actively positioned in call options. Although the put positions slightly decreased, the overall change was minimal. This position adjustment may reflect foreign investors' higher tolerance for market volatility or their strategic maintenance of a certain level of long positions to capitalize on potential market rebound opportunities.

Investment Trusts' Operations Overview: No Significant Position Changes in Options Market

According to the same data, investment trusts did not engage in any call or put options trading in the Taiwan Index options market on May 9, with both buy and sell contracts at zero. This indicates that investment trusts adopted a wait-and-see approach in the options market that day, without adjusting positions.

Electronics and Financial Options Market: Extremely Low Trading Volume

Apart from the Taiwan Index options, the trading volume of institutional investors in the electronics and financial options markets was extremely low on that day. Proprietary traders traded 10 call options and 77 put options in electronics options, and 603 call options and 474 put options in financial options, resulting in no significant net difference. Foreign investors and investment trusts had no trading records in these two types of options products.

This reflects that institutional participation in non-major index options products remains relatively limited, with main operations still concentrated in the Taiwan Index options market.

Taiwan Index Futures and Options Overall Capital Supplement

According to data from Yuanta Futures and other market sources, on May 9, the net long positions of the three major institutional investors in Taiwan Index futures increased by 981 contracts to 7,645 contracts, with foreign investors' net short positions decreasing by 623 contracts to 30,020 contracts. In terms of options open interest, the largest open interest (OI) for monthly call options was centered at 21,000 points, while the largest OI for monthly put options was at 14,700 points, indicating the primary market pressure and support levels.

Additionally, the put/call ratio for all-month options rose from 0.78 to 0.84, and the VIX fell to 30.94, indicating a slight decrease in market volatility expectations. Foreign investors' net amount in Taiwan Index options was NT$193 million for call options and NT$48 million for put options, with the overall capital position still leaning bullish.

On May 9, 2025, in the Taiwan Stock Index Options Market, proprietary traders are bearish, while foreign investors maintain a net long position in call options.

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May 9, 2025, Taiwan Futures Market: The near-month contracts of Taiwan TAIEX futures and electronic futures saw a slight decline after hours, with market sentiment remaining stable.