​Daily Wrap – Funds Drive Selloff, Downey Joins Trium

Volume on the U.S. listed markets were muted today, as the prices on the main equity benchmarks rallied. Chesapeake Energy saw the most volume, with about 60,000 put contracts trading. In Asia, the markets there continue to fuel global volatility, with hedge funds driving a significant vol selloff in the HSCEI and HSI on Tuesday, unwinding long variance swap positions against the S&P 500 that have been built up in recent weeks. Keith Law at MCM Partners in Hong Kong looks at the how the interaction of U.S. rate hike concerns, China’s economic downside risk, commodities selloff and emerging markets’ outflow contributed to August’s dismal equity performance.