U.S. stocks closed well off earlier highs after a choppy session on Wednesday(July 30), as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell chilled expectations the central bank might be poised to cut rates at its September meeting.

In keeping rates unchanged, as was widely expected, the central bank said "the unemployment rate remains low, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated," in a split decision that saw two governors dissent.

Regarding the options market, a total volume of 45,954,108 contracts was traded on Wednesday.

Top 10 Option Volumes

Top 10: Nvidia; Tesla; CBOE Volatility Index; SoFi; AMD; MARA; Apple; Meta; Paramount Global; UnitedHealth

NVIDIA stock up 2% on Wednesday as shareholders look forward to earnings reports from major technology companies.

Morgan Stanley analysts are confident the stock has more to gain, raising their target price to $200 from $170 and reiterating an Overweight rating. The target is based on a price-to-earnings multiple of 33 times the team’s forecast for Nvidia’s 2026 profit.

“We remain enthusiastic on the levels of aggregate demand for [Nvidia’s AI chip] Blackwell as token growth continues to outpace what Nvidia can ship,” wrote analyst Joseph Moore, in a research note on Wednesday.

A total number of 2.90 million options related to NVIDIA were traded on Wednesday, of which call options accounted for 70%. Particularly high volume was seen for the $180 strike call option expiring Aug 1, with 546,910 contracts trading. The $180 strike call option expiring this Friday soared 140%. $NVDA 20250801 180.0 CALL$

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices jumped 1.2% on Wednesday.

A total number of 738.79K options related to Advanced Micro Devices were traded on Wednesday, of which call options accounted for 64%. Particularly high volume was seen for the $180 strike call option expiring Aug 1, with 106,003 contracts trading. $AMD 20250801 180.0 CALL$

Unusual Options Activity

UnitedHealth shares rose 2% on Wednesday following 7.5% drop in prior session.

A total number of 447.77K options related to UnitedHealth were traded on Wednesday, of which call options accounted for 56%. Particularly high volume was seen for the $470 strike put option expiring Aug 15, with 21,051 contracts trading. $UNH 20250815 470.0 PUT$

TOP Bullish & Bearish Single Stocks

This report shows stocks with the highest volume of bullish and bearish activity by option delta volume, which converts option volume to an equivalent stock volume (bought or sold).

If we take the total positive option delta volume and subtract the total negative option delta volume, we will get the net imbalance. If the net imbalance is positive, there is more bullish pressure. If the net is negative, there is more bearish pressure.

Based on option delta volume, traders bought a net equivalent of 472,927 shares of Broadcom stock. The largest bullish delta came from buying calls. The largest delta volume came from the 17-Oct-25 240 Call, with traders getting long 436,305 deltas on the single option contract.

Top 10 bullish stocks: American Airlines; Vale; Opendoor; Broadcom; Hims & Hers Health; VF Corp; Sunrun; Marvell; Bloom Energy; Iren

Top 10 bearish stocks: Paramount Global; CoreWeave; AGNC Investment; AMD; Intel; Peloton; MARA; PayPal; ConAgra; Lyft

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