Panic grips investors amid volatile markets

Investors succumbed to the biggest bout of jitters since the nadir of the eurozone crisis two years ago, prompting wild swings in equities and government bonds.

Volatility took hold and the Dow Jones swung by almost 450 points over the course of a turbulent day. The S & P 500 VIX index of share market volatility — a barometer known as the “fear index” which is closely watched and enthusiatically traded during periods of great uncertainty — has doubled in the space of a fortnight and hit a peak of 31, higher than in the summer of 2012, when the European Central Bank was forced to promise to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.


Opportunistic hedge funds queued up to place down bets