S&P 500's Wild Ride Makes U.S. Stocks More Volatile Than Bitcoin

(Bloomberg) -- Less than a year after Bitcoin whipsawed Wall Street with extreme price swings, the cryptocurrency is now less volatile than the S&P 500 Index.

Ten-day historical volatility for the U.S. equity benchmark is hovering around 27. That compares with 15.7 for Bitcoin, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

U.S. stocks resumed their slide Friday, ending a three-day advance amid renewed concern on trade. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow earlier said he’s “not as optimistic” as he once was for a China trade deal, pouring cold water on a report that President Donald Trump has asked officials to draft terms for a deal with China’s Xi Jinping.

Stocks are trying to find their footing after October marked one of the worst months of the bull market, sending the Nasdaq index into a correction and leaving the S&P 500 on the cusp of one. As for Bitcoin, the euphoria was short lived. It’s down more than 60 percent from its peak last December and has posted three consecutive monthly declines.

--With assistance from Elena Popina.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tatiana Darie in New York at tdarie1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Richard Richtmyer

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.