Stocks Churn After Big Rally With VIX Now Below 20: Markets Wrap
- Manufacturing contracts for the first time since May 2020
- Inflation gauge sees second-smallest increase this year
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Stocks saw a lot of instability near a key technical level, with traders awaiting the all-important jobs report for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next policy steps. The dollar fell with bond yields.
A fight took place around the S&P 500’s 200-day moving average -- an indicator seen by some analysts as portending the continuation of a move when breached. The equity gauge struggled for direction after crossing that mark in a rally driven by Jerome Powell’s signals of a downshift in the pace of hikes. Amid all the choppiness, the Cboe Volatility Index fell below 20, the lowest since August.