What characteristic do Bollinger Bands have during volatile market conditions?

Bollinger Bands are a technical analysis tool that consists of a middle band (which is typically a simple moving average) and two outer bands, which are standard deviations away from the middle band. During volatile market conditions, the market experiences larger price swings and fluctuations. This increased volatility is reflected in the bands themselves, which respond by expanding.

When volatility increases, the price moves further away from the average more frequently, causing the standard deviation to rise. As a result, the outer bands widen to accommodate this increased price movement, indicating that the market is experiencing greater volatility. Thus, the characteristic of Bollinger Bands during such conditions is that they expand, providing traders with visual cues about the level of market volatility and potential price movements.