Equities Hit Dizzying Swings as Bond Yields Rise – US Market Wrap

Waves of volatility rattled markets once more, whipsawing stocks, bonds, and commodities with another torrent of reports about Trump’s trade war, which only added to the clouds over the future for investing and the economy

Traders expecting markets to bottom after a trillion-dollar selloff were met with a series of twists and turns on Monday. While the S&P 500 pulled away from the bear market threshold, the 7% intraday volatility was the largest since 2020, when Covid disrupted global trading. Treasuries dropped in a tumultuous session, with rates across all maturities rising by at least 10 basis points, a dramatic contrast to the day’s previous fall.

The indicator, which measures demand for portfolio protection against stock movements, peaked at roughly 66 in August during the market rout caused by the unwinding of the Japanese yen carry trade, and reached 85 in the 2020 selloff fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. It skyrocketed to just shy of 90 in 2008, as fears about the global financial crisis wreaked havoc on stock markets.