One measure of fear on Wall Street on Friday was on track to log its lowest finish ever, according to FactSet data. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, looked set to end down 2.9% at 9.30, which would mark the lowest level for the so-called fear gauge since 1993, if that reading holds. The indicator’s previous low close was in December 1993 at 9.31. The VIX is based on options contracts on the S&P 500 30-days in the future. The metric’s historical average is 20 and it has continued to mostly slump in 2017 as stocks have reached repeated records since President Donald Trump’s Election Day victory in November, which suggests to market participants that investors are becoming increasingly complacent. Friday’s VIX slide came as many major equity benchmarks closed lower, but not far from records, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S&P 500 index , and the Nasdaq Composite Index .
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