What is the max pain price for XLV?

As of 2026-07-10, the max pain price for XLV options expiring 2026-07-17 is $154. Max pain is the strike at which option buyers collectively lose the most value at expiration, computed from open interest.

What does max pain mean in options trading?

Max pain is the settlement price that minimizes the total intrinsic value paid out to option holders at expiration. Some traders watch it because prices are hypothesized to drift toward this level into expiry, though academic evidence is mixed.

XLV Max Pain

Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF · open interest as of 2026-07-10 · spot $160.84 (2026-07-10 close) · updated nightly

Max pain · 2026-07-17

$154

spot is +4.44% vs max pain

Put/Call OI ratio

0.784

43,826 puts / 55,877 calls

Call wall

$160

largest call OI strike

Put wall

$148

largest put OI strike

Open interest by strike — 2026-07-17

■ Call OI ■ Put OI — strikes within ±15% of max pain.

XLV max pain by expiration

Expiration	Max pain	Spot vs MP	P/C ratio	Call wall	Put wall	Call OI	Put OI
2026-07-10	$160	+0.53%	0.643	$162	$161	9,055	5,823
2026-07-17 ·	$154	+4.44%	0.784	$160	$148	55,877	43,826
2026-07-24	$167	-3.69%	3.034	$165	$165	1,310	3,975
2026-07-31	$160	+0.53%	1.528	$165	$154	1,841	2,813
2026-08-07	$160	+0.53%	2.072	$165	$157	643	1,332
2026-08-14	$161	-0.1%	1.144	$163	$161	236	270
2026-08-21	$158	+1.8%	0.532	$168	$158	23,877	12,697

What is max pain?

Max pain (or "maximum pain") is the strike price at which the greatest number of option buyers would lose money if XLV settled there at expiration. For each candidate settlement price, sum the intrinsic value of every in-the-money call and put weighted by open interest; the price that minimizes that total payout is the max pain point.

Some traders watch max pain because of the theory that prices tend to gravitate toward this level as expiration approaches ("pinning"). The academic evidence is mixed — treat it as a read on positioning, not a prediction. The call wall and put wall (largest single-strike open interest) are often watched as near-term resistance and support zones for the same reason. Full walkthrough with a worked example: what is max pain?

More XLV options data

Same open interest, different lens: the XLV gamma exposure (GEX) dashboard shows how dealer hedging of these contracts may dampen or amplify moves — net GEX, gamma flip level, and gamma walls.

Own XLV as a fund holding?

XLV is also one of the 73 ETFs we track for portfolio overlap. See which ETFs overlap most with XLV before adding it next to funds you already hold.

Max pain for other tickers

DIA max pain $520 IWM max pain $298 QQQ max pain $720 RSP max pain $210 SMH max pain $597.5 SOXX max pain $585 SPY max pain $750 VOO max pain $675

Derived metrics computed from end-of-day open interest (methodology); not raw market data, not investment advice. Open interest settles once daily — intraday moves are not reflected.