Wall Street’s "fear gauge" was wavering on Wednesday afternoon, as investors weighed the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting. The Cboe Volatility

Index, which trades under the ticker symbol VIX, was up a modest 0.4% at 19.03 to trade a bit below its long-term average of around 20, according to FactSet, at last check. The Fed released

minutes of its May 6-7 policy meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time. “The staff projection for real GDP growth in 2025 and 2026 was weaker than the one prepared for the March meeting,

as announced trade policies implied a larger drag on real activity relative to the policies that the staff had assumed in their previous forecast,” the Fed minutes showed.