Wall Street's top fear gauge just hit its highest level since July amid major stock selloff

• The Cboe Volatility index, or VIX, on Thursday surged to its highest level since July amid a major stock selloff.
• The index is referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge. It spiked as stocks tumbled from recent record highs.
• Losses in big technology company stocks led the market rout Thursday.
• Watch the Vix trade live on Markets Insider.
• Read more on Business Insider.

Wall Street's favorite fear gauge just hit its highest level since July amid a major stock market selloff.

The Cboe Volatility Index, or Vix, spiked as much as 26% to 33.45 on Thursday, the highest reading in seven weeks. The jump in volatility came as stocks sold off sharply on Thursday, retreating from record highs hit earlier in the week by the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

While the Vix pared some of the jump, the index remained above 30 during trading Thursday, putting it on track for its highest close since mid-July.

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Technology stocks, which have led the stock market's rapid rebound from March lows, drove losses Thursday. Shares of major companies such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google parent Alphabet — the so-called FAANG stocks – all posted major slumps Thursday.