Market uncertainty spikes as the VIX pops to its highest level since March 2023

Panic set in on Friday after investors received a noticeably weaker-than-expected July jobs report, sparking fears that the U.S. economy could be heading towards a recession and driving volatility levels to their highest since March last year.

The S&P VIX Index (VIX), also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, on Friday jumped as much as 59.2% to 29.60, its highest level since hitting an intraday peak at 29.91 on March 15, 2023.

The VIX’s surge came amid a broader market selloff. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) fell into correction territory, dropping 3%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) was down 2.5%. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) plummeted nearly 1,000 points, or 2.4%.

Aside from the obvious indicator of the VIX rocketing higher, volatility can also be seen in heavy selling across popular exchange-traded funds and stocks such as the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Amazon (AMZN), and Intel (INTC).

Highlighted below is the total volume of shares that have been traded for each instrument as of 11:40 a.m. EST compared to their average daily volume. In each case, the volume has exceeded what a typical day looks like, and it’s still only midday.

Invesco QQQ Trust ETF

• Current volume of shares exchanged: 36,152,869
• Average daily volume of shares exchanged: 33,066924

iShares Russell 2000 ETF

• Current volume of shares exchanged: 35,947,288
• Average daily volume of shares exchanged: 30,453,496

SPDR Gold Shares

• Current volume of shares exchanged: 6,540,367
• Average daily volume of shares exchanged: 6,125,212

Intel

• Current volume of shares exchanged: 171,242,100
• Average daily volume of shares exchanged: 47,708,250

Amazon

• Current volume of shares exchanged: 76,825,320
• Average daily volume of shares exchanged: 40,201,703

Moreover, see a grouping of volatility-based ETFs and ETNs that investors can monitor to gain further exposure towards how market sentiment plays out.

Short Term Volatility Funds: The iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) and the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY).

Medium Term Volatility Funds: The iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ) and ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF (VIXM).

Leveraged Volatility Funds: The ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY), ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (SVXY), and 2x Long VIX Futures ETF (UVIX).