The CBOE Volatility Index finished at its session high yesterday as the equity indexes slid into the close.
The VIX finished the day at 16.37, up 1.26 points, or 8.34 percent. It continued to close the gap on the VIX futures, with the October contracts rising 0.75 points to 16.65 and November futures up 0.55 points to 17.95. This drove the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) up 4.2 percent to 35.98.
This came as the S&P 500 lost 14.40 points to close at 1441.48, essentially the low of the day. The SPX now faces support at 1430 and resistance at 1460.
The Nasdaq 100 lost 1.6 percent, or exactly 45 points, to close the day at 2741.92. It was a clear break of the neckline on a bearish "head and shoulders" pattern. Resistance is now at 2845 and support at 2705.
The Russell 2000 was down slightly more than 10 points to close at 827.92, about the low of the day. Resistance is at 846 and support at 820.
More than 489,000 VIX options traded yesterday, led by 316,000 calls. The S&P 500 options were just behind at 479,000 contracts, with a put/call ratio of more than 2 to 1. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was up 3 percent to 88.53.
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