By The Oracle · For education, not financial advice.
Last checked: 2026-11-08. Exchanges and brokers change hours and cut-off times from time to time, so check your broker’s rules before relying on any time here.
A 0DTE option expires at the end of its last trading day, but “the end” depends on what it is an option on. Same-day index options on Cboe, such as SPX, XSP and RUT, stop trading at 4:00 p.m. ET and settle in cash. Options on ETFs such as SPY, QQQ and IWM trade until 4:15 p.m. ET and settle in shares. Most stock options stop at 4:00 p.m. After that, a stock or ETF option in the money by a cent or more is exercised automatically, unless the holder says otherwise by 5:30 p.m. ET at the latest. Every source is listed at the end.
The close, product by product
| Product | Last trade on expiration day | If in the money |
|---|---|---|
| Cboe index options: SPX same-day (SPXW), XSP, RUT, MRUT, DJX | 4:00 p.m. ET | Cash |
| ETF options with a late close, such as SPY, QQQ, IWM | 4:15 p.m. ET | 100 shares per contract |
| Most stock options | 4:00 p.m. ET | 100 shares per contract |
| Large stocks in Cboe’s extended session, such as AAPL, NVDA, TSLA | 4:00 p.m. ET, plus a 4:00–4:15 p.m. session on Cboe’s C1 exchange | 100 shares per contract |
One rule ties the share-settled rows together. OCC is the clearing house for US listed options. Whatever the last trade time, it judges whether a stock or ETF option is in the money from the 4:00 p.m. ET close, Cboe says. So the extra 15 minutes on SPY let you close a position. They do not change the price that triggers automatic exercise.
Why index options stop at 4:00
A same-day SPX contract is PM-settled: its final value is calculated from the closing prices of the stocks in the index. Their main exchanges close at 4:00 p.m. In an April 2026 filing approved by the SEC, Cboe explained the rest. If expiring index options traded until 4:15, they would trade after their settlement value had already been fixed. So Cboe stops them at 4:00, while index options that are not expiring that day trade until 4:15.
The traditional monthly SPX contract works differently. It is AM-settled: its last trade is usually on the Thursday, and its value comes from Friday’s opening prices. SPX vs SPY 0DTE options covers that split.
Cash settlement: an expiring SPX option
- In the money. OCC exercises index options in the money by $0.01 or more automatically. The holder receives the difference between the settlement value and the strike, times $100, in cash on the next business day. The seller pays it.
- Out of the money. It expires worthless. The buyer loses the premium, the price paid for the option; the seller keeps it.
- No shares, no after-hours choice. A European-style option can be exercised only at expiration. Cboe calls this “certainty of settlement”: an out-of-the-money index option cannot be exercised after the close.
A 6,500 call · pays 3.20 × $100 = $320 to its holder.
A 6,505 call · expires worthless.
A 6,505 put · pays 1.80 × $100 = $180.
Share settlement: an expiring SPY or stock option
- Automatic exercise. OCC exercises any expiring stock or ETF option that is in the money by $0.01 or more at the 4:00 p.m. close. This is called exercise by exception.
- What you end up with. Each exercised call buys 100 shares at the strike. Each exercised put sells 100 shares, which leaves you short if you did not own them. A seller who is assigned takes the other side.
- The holder can override it. Under FINRA rules, holders have until 5:30 p.m. ET on expiration day to make a final decision. A contrary exercise advice stops an automatic exercise, or exercises an option that would not have been. Brokers may set an earlier cut-off.
- Your broker may act first. FINRA notes a firm may close a share-settled position before the close if you lack the cash or shares to settle it.
A 650 call held to the close · is worth $0.02, or $2 per contract.
It is exercised automatically · you buy 100 shares at $650, a $65,000 position.
Five such calls · a $325,000 position, from options worth $10.
A two-cent option can become a six-figure share position.
After-hours moves and pin risk
The stock market’s regular session closes at 4:00 p.m., but trading does not stop. NYSE Arca’s late session, for example, runs until 8:00 p.m. ET. Automatic exercise is set at the 4:00 close, yet holders can decide until 5:30 p.m. If news moves SPY after 4:00, a holder can exercise a call that closed a few cents out of the money, or skip one that closed a few cents in. Cboe notes that American-style options can be exercised out of the money after the close.
This creates pin risk: the risk an option seller faces when the price closes very near the strike. The seller cannot know for sure whether they will be assigned until after the close. They may get shares they did not expect, or miss shares they did, while the price keeps moving after hours. Cash-settled index options avoid this, because their value is fixed from closing prices.
Price sometimes settles near a heavily traded strike into the close. Max pain explains the idea and when it fails, and 0DTE options and dealer hedging covers the hedging behind it. To see where the large strikes sit, MomoEdge’s gamma exposure tool marks them, and what is GEX explains how to read the levels.
Holidays and half days
- If an SPX settlement date falls on a market holiday, Cboe moves it back one business day, for example from Friday to Thursday. Monday contracts move forward to Tuesday instead.
- On a half day, the stock market closes at 1:00 p.m. ET. Expiring SPXW contracts stop at 1:00 p.m., and eligible options, including ETF options with a late close, at 1:15 p.m. The next two half days are Friday, November 27, and Thursday, December 24, 2026.
Questions to answer before holding to the close
- Which close applies: 4:00 or 4:15 p.m. ET?
- Does it settle in cash or in shares?
- If shares, can the account pay for 100 per contract?
- What is the broker’s exercise cut-off, and does it close positions on its own?
- If you sold the option, how close is the price to the strike?
Closing a position before the end removes the settlement questions, at the cost of the bid-ask spread: the gap between the price buyers pay and sellers accept. The other risks of same-day trading are in 0DTE options for beginners, and which tickers have a contract every day is in the 0DTE options list.
Sources
- Cboe, Equity Options Extended Trading Hours FAQ, updated November 2, 2026 (checked 2026-11-08).
- Cboe, extended trading sessions, October 19, 2026 (checked 2026-11-08).
- SEC, Release 34-105196, April 10, 2026 (checked 2026-11-08).
- Cboe, SPX index options fact sheet and SPX specifications (checked 2026-11-08).
- OCC’s Options Industry Council, options exercise (checked 2026-11-08).
- SEC, Release 34-57163, OCC’s $0.01 threshold (checked 2026-11-08).
- FINRA, exercise cut-off time for expiring options, February 3, 2021 (checked 2026-11-08).
- FINRA, Zeroing In on an Options Trading Strategy: 0DTE (checked 2026-11-08).
- NYSE, holidays and trading hours (checked 2026-11-08).
FAQ
What time do 0DTE options expire?
It depends on the product. Same-day index options on Cboe, such as SPX, stop trading at 4:00 p.m. ET. ETF options such as SPY, QQQ and IWM trade until 4:15 p.m. ET. Most stock options stop at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Do SPY options trade until 4:15 on expiration day?
Yes. Cboe lists expiring ETF options as trading until 4:15 p.m. ET. Whether one is exercised automatically, though, is decided from SPY’s 4:00 p.m. closing price.
What happens if my 0DTE option expires in the money?
An index option such as SPX pays cash on the next business day. An ETF or stock option in the money by $0.01 or more is exercised into 100 shares per contract, unless the holder instructs otherwise before the cut-off.
Can an option be exercised after the market closes?
A share-settled, American-style option can. Holders have until 5:30 p.m. ET on expiration day, or their broker’s earlier cut-off, to make a final decision. Cash-settled index options settle from closing prices instead.
What is pin risk?
The uncertainty an option seller faces when the price closes very near the strike of a share-settled option. The holder can still decide after the close, so the seller cannot be sure of assignment until then.
Words used here
- Expiration: the day an option stops existing.
- Strike: the price written into an option.
- In / out of the money: worth something, or nothing, if exercised now.
- Exercise and assignment: the holder using the option, and the seller being made to take the other side.
- Exercise by exception: OCC’s automatic exercise of options in the money by $0.01 or more.
- Contrary exercise advice: an instruction that overrides the automatic decision.
- Cash vs share settlement: an expiring option pays cash, or turns into shares.
- AM vs PM settlement: value set from opening prices, or from closing prices.
- Pin risk: a seller’s uncertainty when price closes right at the strike.
- Premium: the price paid for an option.