Volatility soars, with VIX jumping to the highest level of 2024

As Wall Street’s major market averages experienced a sell off on Friday, volatility levels spiked to their highest levels of the year. The S&P VIX Index (VIX) traded at 18.62 in mid-afternoon action after topping 19 earlier in the session.

On Friday afternoon, the VIX was up 22.3% on the day. This jump took the volatility index to its highest level since Oct. 31, 2023. The index is now up about 58% from its 52-week low of $11.81 reached in December.

The rise in market volatility has come along with a drop in the major equity averages, which sent the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite lower by 1.6% on Friday. At the same time, the benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow Jones were also lower on the session by 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

Here some other popular ETFs and ETNs related to volatility:

Short Term Volatility Funds: The iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) and the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY).

Medium Term Volatility Funds: The iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ) and ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF (VIXM).

Leveraged Volatility Funds: The ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY).