D-Street goes short on fear, VIX plunges 20%

Mumbai: The Volatility Index or VIX – stock market‘s fear gauge – unexpectedly plunged nearly 20% on Tuesday, as strengthening expectations of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance winning by a wide margin in the upcoming general elections further boosted risk-on sentiment in the market. Analysts said an imminent change in the lot size of Nifty derivative contracts from Friday could have also contributed to Tuesday’s drop in the VIX – the third-largest fall in a day.