Options Traders See S&P 500 Treading Water in Next Two Months

US equities have zoomed to another banner year, but going by the derivatives market, there may not be much left in the tank.

Options bets on the S&P 500 Index’s level in late December are clustering near 7,000, a round-number milestone that would put the index up 19% in 2025. But that’s just 2.5% from Thursday’s close of 6,822.34, with two months left to go.