U.S. stock markets had their worst day since September 2022 this week, but to some investors, such moves shouldn't come as a surprise. That's because the S & P 500 often experiences its most volatile day of the year in August, a CNBC Pro study has revealed. Fears of a U.S. recession were the main culprit for the global market meltdown this week .
One explanation for this is the low trading volumes in the month, as many market participants bask in the sun on vacation rather than face their trading terminals. On average, around 3 billion S & P 500 contracts are traded each day in August, which is about 20% lower than January, the month with the highest average trading volumes, according to trading volume data since 1999.