![\"\"](\"https:\/\/insights.onequity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/03Feb-Gold-vola.png\")
Meanwhile, the February VIX contract (which is a future and rolls on the third Tuesday of each month) continues to trade within a relatively tight range between 17.80 and 20.50<\/strong>. The week started poorly for equity markets yesterday morning, with sharp declines; however, a strong U.S. PMI release<\/strong>\u2014beating expectations across the board, from new orders to labor market conditions, and most notably showing an unexpected return of manufacturing activity into expansionary territory\u2014triggered a nearly 2% intraday rally from the lows in U.S. equity indices, with a comparable performance across European markets. As equities rise, volatility is typically sold, reflecting reduced demand for downside protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TECHNICAL ANALYSIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We present a weekly chart for clarity of visualization. The zones we have highlighted represent areas of accumulation and distribution which, at least over the past year, have also helped identify equity market bottoms. The 16.00\u201316.50 area<\/strong> (green rectangle) can be considered a low-volatility zone; in recent months, the VIX has rarely traded below this range, making it a reasonably reliable accumulation and buying area for the instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, the 22.50\u201323.40 zone <\/strong>(red rectangle) has consistently acted as a strong rejection area\u2014attractive for selling VIX\u2014and has historically coincided with equity market bottoms on the S&P 500. The last two candles that tested this zone in October and November of last year correspond to the two sessions that sharply pushed the S&P 500 down to 6,550 (it is currently trading around 6,997). Over the past few years, this area has only been decisively breached twice, most recently during the initial tariff announcement; therefore, when such a breakout occurs, it warrants close attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What we are observing in recent sessions, with the 19.50\u201320.50<\/strong> range (orange rectangle) capping price action, represents a transitional zone and a state of indecision. However, a key observation is that when this consolidation forms after a move up from lower levels\u2014specifically from the 16 area\u2014it has historically preceded a genuine volatility spike a few weeks later. This was the case in January\u2013February of last year and again in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a daily timeframe, we are monitoring the current contract\u2019s downside levels at 17.65, followed by 17.35, and potentially a full gap closure from the rollover at 16.70. Such a move would clearly imply new highs in equity indices, should it materialize. For reference, the March 2026 VIX contract is currently trading around 19.10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While volatility across multiple asset classes has increased steadily over recent weeks\u2014something we have all observed\u2014the VIX index, which reflects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":104002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2932],"tags":[662,1213,1212,1086],"class_list":["post-108537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technical","tag-gold","tag-pmi","tag-vix","tag-volatility","post_format-post-format-video"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/insights.onequity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/03Feb-Vix-Weekly.png\")