VIX and its futures rise as stocks fall
The equity indexes finished Friday lower, driving the CBOE Volatility Index and VIX futures higher.
The S&P 500 gained slightly less than 6 points to finish the week at 1413.58. That was the index's first close below its 10-day moving average in a month. It closed just above the low of the day and the week, which came about an hour before the bell. Resistance remains at 1438 and support at 1398.
The Nasdaq 100 followed a similar pattern as the NDX finished the week at 2629.09. The index also hit the week's low and finished slightly above it. It remains between support and resistance at 2600 and 2700 respectively.
The Russell 2000 fared the best among the three indexes on Friday but still finished lower, if just barely. The small-cap index gave up just 0.45 points to close at 823.75. Support is at 810 and resistance at 842.
The VIX ended the week at 17 even, up 0.44 points on the day, or 2.66 percent. The volatility index closed just off the high of the week of 17.15, which came in the last hour of trade. The spot VIX was surprisingly strong considering that it was a Friday, when the VIX usually shows relative weakness as the SPX options are priced for the weekend time decay .
The VIX futures were mixed. The December futures were up 0.25 points to 16.85, but the January futures were down 0.20 points to 17.15. The VIX options traded 556,000 contracts, putting it fourth on the volume list, as calls outpaced puts by almost 2 to 1. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was down fractionally to 86.39.
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