Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
during
morning
trading
on
Jan.
11,
2024.
Angela
Weiss
|
Afp
|
Getty
Images
Wall
Street’s
climb
to
record
highs
has
come
with
conspicuously
little
volatility.
The
S&P
500
has
gone
377
days
without
a
2.05%
sell-off.
That’s
the
longest
stretch
for
the
benchmark
since
the
great
financial
crisis,
according
to
FactSet
data
compiled
by
CNBC.
The
index
hasn’t
experienced
a
gain
of
at
least
2.15%
in
that
time
either.
The
S&P
500
has
gone
377
days
without
a
selloff
of
2.05%
or
more,
which
is
the
longest
period
since
the
Great
Financial
Crisis.
CNBC
This
market
lull
comes
as
investors
pile
into
megacap
tech
stocks,
such
as
Nvidia,
amid
bets
that
artificial
intelligence
will
boost
profits.
Year
to
date,
the
S&P
500
is
up
more
than
14%.
Expectations
of
Federal
Reserve
rate
cuts
have
also
buoyed
the
broad
market
index
in
2024
as
new
data
shows
inflation
moving
closer
to
the
central
bank’s
2%
goal.
“At
a
high
level,
the
clouds
of
macro
uncertainty
have
parted
over
the
last
12
months
as
receding
inflation
provided
much-needed
clarity
into
the
future
path
of
monetary
policy,”
said
Adam
Turnquist,
chief
technical
strategist
at
LPL
Financial.
“The
changing
narrative
from
rate
hikes
to
rate
cuts
and
recessions
to
economic
resilience
helped
drag
the
VIX
down
to
multiyear
lows,
ultimately
shifting
the
backdrop
for
stocks
to
a
low
volatility
from
high
volatility
regime.”
The
S&P
500
has
notched
the
longest
stretch
without
a
2.15%
or
more
gain
since
the
Great
Financial
Crisis.
CNBC
Many
investors
consider
the
CBOE
Volatility
Index
(VIX)
the
de
facto
fear
gauge
on
the
Street.
Last
month,
it
hit
its
lowest
level
going
back
to
November
2020.
On
Friday,
it
traded
around
13,
near
historically
low
levels.
“[T]he
low
VIX
reflects
the
options
market’s
complacency,
with
VIX
at
a
three-year
low,”
said
Joseph
Cusick,
senior
vice
president
and
portfolio
specialist
at
Calamos
Investments.
“This
makes
sense
since
institutions
have
been
actively
hedging;
there
is
no
urgency
to
sell
underlying
with
these
insurance
products
in
place.”
It’s
unclear
how
long
this
low-volatility
period
will
last.
In
2017,
the
S&P
500
recorded
just
eight
daily
moves
of
more
than
1%,
while
the
VIX
fell
to
historic
lows
below
9.
The
following
year,
however,
volatility
came
back
into
the
market,
and
the
VIX
surged
above
50
before
easing.
