“In the short-term, investors can enjoy this run, but they should start to hedge their positions and look for safety,” Christian Magoon, chief executive at Amplify ETFs, told Reuters. “Given world events, common sense would say there should be at least average volatility in daily price movement on the S&P 500. The index seems to be very lethargic.”
The CBOE Volatility Index, or so-called VIX, touched its lowest level in more than a decade earlier in the day, reflecting a very complacent stock market or diminished fear in the equity outlook. The VIX was hovering around 9.9 in afternoon trading.
“Does the lack of fear reflect an exhausted, tired market that believes zero volatility is normal, or is it an example of enormous complacency?” Bill Blain, a strategist at Mint Partners in London, asked in a note to clients, according to Bloomberg.
Nevertheless, some analysts argued that the low volatility in recent market conditions may be partially attributed to healthy U.S. economic data. Moreover, the equity markets have been resilient in the face of a number of potentially volatile catalysts that never came to pass, such as the Federal Reserve unwinding its balance sheet, the French election, impending central bank meetings and more scheduled elections down the line.
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