A popular gauge of fear on Wall Street early Wednesday was on track to see it biggest dailly jump in 6 1/2 months, according to FactSet data. The CBOE Volatility Index , or VIX, was up nearly 14%, at 12.14 is its biggest daily move since Nov. 3, according to FactSet data. That level for the so-called fear gauge is relatively low, compared with its long-term average of 20, but comes just a week after the fear gauge touched its lowest close since 1993. The jump in the VIX, which measures expectations for market swings in the S&P 500 index 30 days in the future, comes amid mounting worries about President Donald Trump’s ability to make good on pledges to enact market-friendly policies, following a series of news reports. The latest from the New York Times and alleges that Trump in February asked the then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to “let go’ an investigation into Trump’s former-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The report indicates that Trump made the request a day after Flynn resigned is national security post. Last week, Trump fired Comey, creating a firestorm inside and outside of Washington and casting doubt on his ability to pass legislation in Congress. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average [YMM7] were off 166 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 futures are down 18 points, or 0.8^%. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 are down 42 points or 0.7%. On Tuesday, The Dow and the S&P 500 closed mostly flat on Tuesday but the Nasdaq Composite Index hit a record.
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