Volatility-linked exchange traded funds jumped along with the CBOE Volatility Index on Monday as investors scrambled for insurance in options markets against further stock declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 247 points, or more than 2% on sinking optimism over a solution to Europe’s debt crisis.
The VIX rallied Monday after falling below 30 and the lower end of its recent trading range last week.
The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (NYSEArca: VXX) rose 10% on Monday while VelocityShares Daily 2X VIX Short Term ETN (NYSEArca: TVIX) climbed about 20%.
The exchange traded notes track VIX futures, rather than the spot price. [What’s Next for Stock, VIX ETFs?]
“The VIX, Wall Street’s fear gauge, is up double digits today as it tests the lower end of its three month range. Investor complacency into the end of last week caused a failed break down though the range,” said Tarquin Coe, technical analyst at Investors Intelligence.
“There may be some backing and filling over the next few days but overall the chart looks to be setting itself up for a rally back towards the top of the range. Such a move would of course reflect equity weakness,” the analyst wrote in a newsletter Monday.
