U.S. Stocks Open Lower as VIX Fear Index Rises, Crypto-Linked Shares Decline

U.S. equities later closed mixed on May 12, but according to msx.com data, crypto-linked stocks weakened from premarket through the session, with losses in Coinbase, Robinhood, Bit Digital, and Circle.

TRX

Summary

U.S. stocks opened lower on May 12 before closing mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11%, the S&P 500 down 0.16%, and the Nasdaq lower by 0.71%. The VIX rose 6.17% at the open but was later reported down 2.12% by the close. Across the same period, msx.com data showed crypto-linked U.S. equities deteriorating from an earlier mixed premarket snapshot to broader weakness intraday and by the close. Premarket readings first showed CRCL up 6.91%, COIN up 0.32%, MSTR up 0.90%, and MARA up 0.85%, while SBET fell 0.67%, but a later premarket update showed COIN down 2.22%, MSTR down 2.58%, HOOD down 2.03%, SBET down 2.32%, and CRCL down 0.17%. Intraday figures then showed FRMM down 4.56%, American Bitcoin down 4.2%, Bullish down 3.77%, Hut 8 down 2.45%, Tron Inc. down 2.24%, Coinbase down 0.98%, and Robinhood down 1.63%. By the later market update, Bit Digital had fallen 8.84% and Circle was down 6.16%, indicating sustained pressure on digital-asset-linked shares even as broader equity indexes stabilized.

Terms & Concepts
  • VIX fear index: A market volatility indicator based on S&P 500 options, often used to gauge investor anxiety and expected near-term market swings.
  • Premarket trading: Trading that takes place before regular U.S. stock market hours, often reflecting early investor sentiment.
  • Tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs: Blockchain-based representations of traditional equities and exchange-traded funds designed to track the value of the underlying assets.