Wall Street's 'fear Gauge' On Track For Biggest Jump In More Than 3 Months

A popular gauge of fear on Wall Street early Wednesday was on track to see it biggest dailly jump in 31/2 months, according to FactSet data. The CBOE Volatility Index , or VIX, was up nearly 11.5%, at 11.87. That level for the so-called fear gauge is relatively low, compared with its long-term average of 20, but comes just a week after the fear gauge touched its lowest close since 1993. The jump in the VIX, which measures expectations for market swings in the S&P 500 index 30 days in the future, comes amid mounting worries about President Donald Trump's ability to make good on pledges to enact market-friendly policies, following a series of news reports. The latest from the New York Times and alleges that Trump in February asked the then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "let go' an investigation into Trump's former-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The report indicates that Trump made the request a day after Flynn resigned is national security post. Last week, Trump fired Comey, creating a firestorm inside and outside of Washington and casting doubt on his ability to pass legislation in Congress. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average [YMM7] were off 124 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 futures are down 15 points, or 0.6^%. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 are down 35 points or 0.6%. On Tuesday, The Dow and the S&P 500 closed mostly flat but the Nasdaq Composite Index hit a record.

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