VIX Jumps 11% to 18.29 as S&P 500 Falls More Than 0.7%

The VIX at 18.29 remains well below crisis levels, so this reads as a positioning-driven risk-off move rather than a broad repricing of volatility. The dispersion matters: the Nasdaq, biotech and semis are absorbing the bulk of the selling while the Dow barely moves, a rotation out of high-duration growth rather than a market-wide de-risking. Whether the VIX holds above its recent range or fades back is the open question, since a single-session spike often says more about crowded positioning than about the macro backdrop.