Volatility sensitivity of a digital struck at spot
Question
A contract pays at expiry if the stock finishes above today's price . How does its Black-Scholes value change as volatility increases?
Short answer
It falls. The value is with , which decreases in for ; as the value tends to . Higher volatility drags the lognormal median below the forward, so finishing above becomes less likely.
Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q2.26, p.18; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- Greeks and Numerical Sensitivities
- Derivation — From Binomial Trees to Black-Scholes in the Continuous Limit
- The Black-Scholes Formula Derived via Change of Measure
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