S&P 500 Logs 4th Straight Loss as VIX Jumps to August High — SkimNews
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- S&P 500 dropped for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, its longest losing streak since June per Dow Jones Market Data, while the VIX surged 9.48% to its highest reading since early August.
- Goldman Sachs prime brokerage data showed equity-focused hedge funds cut net stock exposure to some of the lowest levels of the past year, per managing director John Flood's client note obtained by MarketWatch.
- Nomura's Charlie McElligott framed the mood as a 'negative risk trinity' — Fed rate-hike prospects, rising 10-year yields approaching the 5% threshold, and midterm elections — and separately warned that a wave of investment-grade debt from companies chasing the AI boom could crowd out Treasury demand.
- CME Group data showed markets are pricing roughly 70% odds of a Fed rate hike later this month, fueled by crude oil at $102.80 (up 7.03%) and strong corporate profits rekindling inflation concerns.
- The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.959%, a fresh three-year high, as President Trump's promise of an outcome-dependent 'election dividend' weighed on bond prices, per Nomura and Ned Davis Research commentary.
- A blockbuster Anthropic IPO leads a packed fall calendar that Wellington-Altus Private Wealth's Ben Kizemchuk called a 'stress test' for the bull market, arguing that year-end tax drains limit fresh capital at exactly the wrong moment.
Why it matters: Hedge funds have cut equity exposure to year-lows just as the 10-year yield closes in on the 5% threshold that has historically pressured stocks, with markets now pricing 70% odds of a Fed rate hike this month. That positioning leaves portfolios thin if Treasury yields break higher or if Anthropic's IPO and a crowded fall calendar compete for capital at the worst possible time.
Ask SkimNews
