HKEX Insight

On 10 November 2025, HKEX launched weekly expiries for five additional single stock option classes, taking the total selection of weekly stock options to 16. The first batch of weekly stock options launched on 4 November 2024 and were the first weekly stock options in Asia. 

The 16 companies covered by the weekly stock options products are from financial services, consumer, IT and new energy sectors and are some of the largest, and most traded, in Hong Kong’s equity markets, accounting for approximately 60% of the market capitalisation of the Hang Seng Index and 84% of the notional turnover of HKEX’s 133 single stock options (SSOs).

#1 Efficiency: If an investor wants to take a directional position in the market and get the best return, he or she will want to have the smallest possible initial outlay on option premium. Short-dated options have lower premiums than long-dated options because there is less time for the underlying asset to move significantly, reducing the probability of large price changes. The lower premiums associated with short-dated options also make them more accessible to retail traders, who can use them to implement trading strategies without significant capital outlay.

#2 Precision: Short-dated options allow investors to more precisely manage their positions. For example, an investor with a long position on a stock or an index may have risk management needs ahead of the release of economic data or an earnings report. With a weekly option, the investor can be precise and target the exact week of that earnings announcement or that economic figure.

#3 Flexibility: If an investor is long on an index or stock and wants to earn yield by selling options against it, a monthly option allows the investor to sell the option with monthly expiries. Weekly options offer more flexibility. By having options that expire weekly or even daily, investors can fine-tune their strategies to align with their market outlook and risk tolerance, enhancing their flexibility to manage and mitigate risks effectively.

Weekly stock options have seen a strong uptake from the market, with average daily volume (ADV) more than doubling from 59,515 in Q4 2024 to 138,111 in October 2025 in a successful first year.

The latest additions to the weekly stock options product selection build on HKEX's leading position as the first market in Asia to offer these products and add to an already diverse ecosystem of products. Now, the HKEX product lineup includes a cohort of 16 weekly stock options that reference some of the largest stocks listed in Hong Kong.

List of Stock Option Class with Weekly Expiries

* Commence trading on 2 Jun 2025, please refer EQD/03/25
# Commence trading on 10 Nov 2025, please refer EQD/16/25

HKEX is empowering investors to manage risks and opportunities with greater accuracy, thereby enhancing their overall trading experience. As the market develops, HKEX may add more weekly stock options.

HKEX’s strategy of expanding the range of products is focused on meeting the diverse needs of market participants.

On the equity derivatives side, there is a wide range of Hang Seng Indexes, single stock products, as well as a large MSCI suite that offers access to emerging markets and developed markets in the Asia Pacific and globally.

Aside from a steady stream of advances on the product side, HKEX has been making important market structure enhancements in recent years.

Since 2022, we introduced derivatives holiday trading, allowing investors to trade derivatives products during Hong Kong public holidays, starting first with all MSCI futures and options contracts on 9 May 2022 and then currency futures and options contracts from 29 March 2024.

In December 2023, we increased the maximum position limit for single stock options from 150,000 to 250,000 contracts, providing investors with more capacity and greater flexibility, allowing them to better manage their market exposure while ensuring proper risk controls. This has supported market liquidity and allowed the stock option market to reach a record of 21.8 million contracts of open interest on September 2025.

Severe Weather Trading commenced in September 2024 to ensure that Hong Kong’s markets remain open and operational for local, regional and international investors, whatever the weather, and removing the interrupted-trading risk that typhoon-induced market closures bring to the market.

On top of market structure enhancements, HKEX is also investing in its derivatives trading capabilities by developing the Orion Derivatives Platform (ODP) to create a robust, flexible, and efficient market infrastructure that can differentiate us in the increasingly competitive international marketplace, with the ability to provide investors with near 24-hour derivatives trading.

The increasing range of weekly stock options at HKEX caters to growing investor demand for flexible trading instruments, and in the first nine months of 2025, average daily turnover of futures and options rose 11% year-on-year to reach 1.68 million.

It is a sign that we’re on track for a third consecutive record year for these products – reflecting Hong Kong’s continued vibrancy as Asia’s risk management centre and reinforcing its position as a leading international financial centre.