The Hong Kong Index Attracts Put Buyers (EWH)

Shares of The iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund EWH are lower on the session by 2.32%, currently trading at $18.53. The ETF has been moving largely higher over the past six months, rallying off of support (via the $15.00 level and the 50-day/200-day moving averages) in late August. Options traders are buying puts on the EWH today. A short while ago the November $18.00 put was purchased 5,400 times, on the offer, for $0.20 on open interest of only 326 contracts. This signals new positioning on the name. Overall put volume is now running at 2.98x the daily average with 80% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. The iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the Hong Kong market, as measured by the MSCI Hong Kong index. The fund normally invests at least 90% of assets in the securities of the underlying index and in ADRs based on the securities in the underlying index. It uses a representative sampling strategy to try to track the index. The index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. It is non-diversified.