Wall Street fear gauge rises as global market sell-off deepens | louder.news

Wall Street's gauge of fear soared to the highest level in more than four years early Monday amid a global market slump.
The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, helps gauge the level of fear among investors. It jumped as much as 172% to 62.27 before the open on Monday. This marks the index's highest level since March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the gauge rose to 85.47.
The VIX index is based on the price of S&P 500 stock options and is used to measure expected volatility.
Since the start of the pandemic, the VIX index has remained relatively stable, never closing above 40. But it began rising last week after the weaker-than-expected July jobs report 'waited, reignited fears of a recession.