Dow Dips Over 300 Points, Volatility In Markets Increases

U.S. stocks settled lower on Thursday, while the dollar and Treasury yields moved higher ahead of Friday's jobs report.

Wall Street remained volatile during the session, but closed lower after several Fed members emphasized that interest rates would be increased to control surging inflation.

Shares of Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, traded lower on Thursday.

The Nasdaq 100 dipped 0.76% to close at 11,485.50 on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.02%. The Dow Jones declined around 347 points to settle at 29,926.94 in the previous session.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a lower note, with utilities and real estate stocks recording the biggest decline on Thursday. However, energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, gaining around 1.8% in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 6.3% to 30.36 points.

What is CBOE Volatility Index?

The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as VIX, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index call and put options.