The VIX dips back below the hourly 200 SMA as equities puch higher

• The VIX is trading at 33.1 nearly 5% lower on the session.
• The 200 Simple Moving Average has been taken out on the 1-hour chart.

The CBOE volatility index (VIX) has pushed lower on Monday as there is more of a sense of calm in the indices after a rocky close last week. California, Florida and New York have recorded lower coronavirus case rates but the Texas hospitalisation rate has pushed higher again.

The top performer in the S&P 500 is the beauty sector after some M&A news earlier in the day. Coty announced they are to buy a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian West's beauty line and the news lifted the whole sector.

Gilead has said it will charge governments USD 2,340 for a 5-day course of Remdesivir, a drug that has been shown to shorten recovery times in Covid-19 patients. This could also be seen as a step in the right direction for the economic recovery.