B3, S&P Dow Jones Indices launch Brazil's first volatility index

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian exchange operator B3 and S&P Dow Jones Indices on Tuesday launched the first volatility index of Brazil's domestic market, to be calculated based on the methodology of the CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's fear gauge.

The S&P/B3 Ibovespa VIX will measure the 30-day volatility of options from Brazil's equities benchmark Bovespa, the companies said in a joint statement.

Volatility indexes measure the so-called implicit volatility of an equity market, and are used by investors as a gauge of market sentiment and as a leading indicator for price moves.

"Brazil's options market hit a new level in terms of volume traded, which allowed the launch of this index and made it possible to bring a methodology already used in other parts of the world to the local market," B3's head of indexes, Henio Scheidt, said in the statement.

(Reporting by Patricia Vilas Boas; writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Leslie Adler)