Volatility edged higher yesterday as the S&P 500 slipped below 1410.
The VIX rose 0.14, almost 1 percent to 16.49. SPX declined from an intraday high above 1413 to close at 1409.39 during the final hour, though the loss was just 1 point on the day. The spot VIX cannot be traded directly.
September and October futures on the volatility index, which can be traded, both advanced by 0.15, closing at 18.95 and 21.45, respectively. The iPath S&P 500 VIX short-term futures ETN (VXX), which is comprised of those two futures, rose $0.17, or 1.5 percent to close at $11.61. The UVXY, a similar product, climbed was up 0.18 or 3.4 percent to $5.42. UVXY is set to undergo it a 1-for-10 reverse split to curtail -- for the time being -- its slide to zero.
Total options volume in the market barely topped 8 million contracts, making it the lightest day of the year. The VIX was the sixth-busiest underlier, with just 187,000 contracts as calls outpaced puts by 2 to 1.
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