15 min ago
Wall Street Fear Gauge Signals Calm Despite Tariff Fears
Wall Street's most widely followed gauge of fear and uncertainty ticked up on Tuesday, but remained at a low enough level to suggest the market wasn't too worried about Donald Trump's tariffs.
The Cboe Volatility Index, which tracks S&P 500 options contracts and trades under the ticker VIX, climbed 1.6% to just over 16 in early trading. Any reading below 20 tends to be seen as a sign of relatively low volatility.
While Trump's levies on steel and aluminum have fanned fears about a flare-up in inflation, there are other reasons for investors to feel calm right now. Friday's jobs report, which showed there had been a slight slowdown in hiring in January, could give the Federal Reserve more scope to cut interest rates sometime in 2025–even though inflation is still running above the central bank's 2% target.
