Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 1
KWEB Options Volume Triples With 612,000 Calls as Traders Bet on 23% China Internet Rally
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 1

KWEB Options Volume Triples With 612,000 Calls as Traders Bet on 23% China Internet Rally

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jul 1

Summary

  • 628,000 KWEB options changed hands Tuesday—nearly 3 times the 30-day average—with 612,000 calls, showing an unusually one-sided bullish turn in a beaten-down China internet ETF.
  • More than 250,000 trades were likely call purchases versus fewer than 4,000 put buys, and $46 million of $48 million in premium was tied to calls, underscoring aggressive upside positioning.
  • The most active contract was the Dec. 18 $29 call, which needs about a 23% rally to break even; the session’s biggest trade bought nearly 102,000 of them for $11 million while selling higher-strike calls.
  • That options surge followed a three-day, almost 4% KWEB rally after China’s manufacturing returned to growth and services PMI hit its highest level since May, even as FXI remains down 18% this year and KWEB sits more than 40% below its October record.

Insights

With China's AI sector cut off from foreign chips, is the massive optimism in tech ETFs justified?
Can bullish options bets defy Beijing's crackdown on AI speculation and ongoing capital flight?