India's VIX rises most in 4 weeks

India's benchmark gauge of demand for protection against stock-market swings rose the most in four weeks, as the CNX Nifty index declined for a sixth day. The India VIX index climbed 4.4 per cent to 18.89 at the close in Mumbai, the steepest increase since May 12. The CNX Nifty index fell 0.9 per cent to 8,044.15. Global investors bought $20.4 million of index options on Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. "Traders are buying options to hedge against their short index positions," Sahaj Agrawal, a vice-president of derivatives at Kotak Securities in Ahmedabad, said in a phone interview.