The closely watched stock market volatility expectations index surged Thursday, as the sell-off spearheaded by technology shares dragged the main gauge sharply lower. The Volatility Index, known by its ticker symbol "VIX", rose to 33.07 after trading at a more than seven-week high of 32.77. The increase brought the VIX above its 200-day moving average. The VIX is an options-based measure of expected volatility over the next 30 days for the S&P 500 which typically spikes during major stock market selloffs, also tends to fall during long, gradual rallies, but remains high above the long-term average, as stocks push back into record territory in recent weeks.
Stocks were under heavy pressure on Thursday, the technology-led selloff saw USA100 down nearly 5%, while USA500 was down 3.5% and USA30 2.7%.
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