‘Intentionwouldbetobuythe dipbutwe’rejustnotthereyet’

“And this has really triggered a spike in volatility because it’s brought into question where higher interest rates are going to curtail the global growth story or erode corporate profitability. So it’s really been very much a riskoff environment.”

Bangsund added there’s not been a lot of rational movements throughout the week’s market rout.

“You need to flush it out and give the markets a chance to reset. Longer-term fundamentals are still good,” she said. “Let this thing run its course. Leading up to this, investor bullishness was at extreme levels ... Our intention would be to buy the dip but we’re just not there yet.”

As the equity-selling intensified, haven assets grew attractive. Gold futures erased losses to push higher, the yen strengthened and even Treasuries pared the worst of their declines.

Volatility spread across assets. The Cboe Volatility Index was more than double its level a week ago. Ten-year Treasury yields fluctuated near their four-year highs, while the yen found traction as a haven from the stock turmoil. The VIX’s bondmarket cousin reached its highest since April. A measure of currency volatility spiked to levels last seen almost a year ago, with a plunge in the yuan and a rise in the pound adding to turbulence. European equities weren’t spared, with the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility gauge spiking toward the highest since June 2016.

The S&P 500 Index fell 3.8 per cent at the close in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4.1 per cent and the Nasdaq 100 Index fell 4.2 per cent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 1.6 per cent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index sank 1.5 per cent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.2 per cent.

West Texas Intermediate crude declined 1.04 per cent to US$61.15 a barrel.

Gold fell less than 0.05 per cent to US$1,317.19 an ounce. Copper fell 0.5 per cent to US$6,845 per tonne. The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.2 per cent.