The Pricing of SPI Futures Options with Daily Futures Style Margin Payments

Empirical evidence on the pricing behaviour of options on index futures contracts traded on USA and UK futures markets reveals that pricing errors and implied volatility estimates differ systematically across exercise price and time to maturity. The introduction on 17 June 1985 of options on share price index futures contracts on the Sydney Futures Exchange, presents the opportunity to examine the pricing of pure futures options, that is, options with daily futures style margin payments. This paper examines the pricing of SPI futures options The results reveal that the pricing of SPI futures options is not well described by a pure futures option pricing model derived under the assumptions of frictionless markets and non-stochastic interest rates. The model underprices both call and put options. Further, implied volatility increases as the option becomes more in/out-of-the-money.