Wednesday as investor fears eased, though major U.S. indexes still have a ways to go to recapture all-time highs achieved last month.Up about 1.5% shortly after markets opened, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 is on pace for its second consecutive session of more than 1% gains for the first time since early May, and is already 4% higher than its
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq also gained, up 0.8% and 1.9%, respectively, as did indexes abroad, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Europe’s Stoxx 600 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 all rising 1% or more in Wednesday trading. Long-dated bond yields climbed again, as yields for 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to over 3.9%, up almost 30 basis points since Monday morning as the safer asset became less desirable .
The 10-year Treasury’s return to a near 4% yield confirms “there’s no recession looming,” declared Yardeni Research founder Ed Yardeni in a note to clients. In further evidence of investors’ return to risk, the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index fell another 16% to a whopping 65% below its Monday peak, as the VIX, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge as it proxies traders’ confidence in the direction of the S&P over a 30-day period, got back to a more normal level as the odds of a sudden meltdown in equity prices seemingly declined.U.S.