The CBOE Volatility Index, VIX futures, and S&P 500 all climbed higher on Friday in highly unusual action, especially for the end of a week.
The VIX closed at 14.51, up 0.46 points, or 3.3 percent. It fell as low as 13.51 in the morning and then quickly popped higher.
This came as the S&P 500 finished the week at 1465.7, up 5.78 points. It climbed above 1474 in the morning, then slid lower the rest of the day.
The volatility index is usually down when the S&P 500 is up. And the VIX typically shows relative weakness on Fridays as the SPX options are priced for the weekend time decay.
The VIX futures were also higher. The September contracts gained more than the spot VIX, up 0.85 points, or 5.7 percent, to close at 15.75. The October futures gained 0.90 points, or 5.5 percent, to finish at 17.35.
The VIX options had another big day with 601,000 contracts traded, 347,000 of which were calls. The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) saw 369,000 options change hands, led by 211,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, gained 6 percent to end the day at 93.
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