“The Markets Are Really Panicking”: VIX Explodes, Markets Crash In Worst Week Since Lehman
Friday’s market performance has traditionally been the weakest, even during the meltup phase ahead of the recent coronacrash, and as such it will probably not come as a surprise that today’s overnight rout which followed the biggest 6-day correction from a peak for the S&P on record…
… has accelerated only this time without even a casual attempt to buy the dip, with the S&P plunge accelerating, and briefly dipping below 2,800. As shown in the chart below, the S&P is now down over 13% from its Friday high, and the selloff shows no signs of abating as both man and machine is now openly dumping risk as the coronavirus epidemic gets worse by the day.
Futures on American gauges were all down at least 0.8%, a more modest drop than elsewhere in the world, but still suggesting U.S. stocks will retreat for a seventh straight session, cementing the worst week since the global financial crisis. Wall Street shares plunged 4.4% on Thursday alone, the largest fall since the August 2011 US downgrade. Futures pointed to a modest 1% drop later, but the S&P 500 has lost 12% since hitting a record high just nine days ago, putting it in so-called correction territory
“Investors are trying to price in the worst case scenario and the biggest risk is what happens now in the United States and other major countries outside of Asia,” said SEI Investments Head of Asian Equities John Lau. “These are highly uncertainty times, no one really knows the answer and the markets are really panicking.”
And as the accelerating global coronavirus panic sent world stock markets skidding again on Friday into a angry sea of red…
