A popular gauge of investor anxiety, the Cboe Volatility Index, fell to its lowest level of the year on Wednesday as optimism over Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts gave equities a lift. The index — also known by its ticker symbol,

The blue-chip Dow was less than 1% away from an all-time high and the Russell 2000 index which tracks rate-sensitive small-cap companies, added 0.8% to hit a six-month high.