Market Volatility Increases Following Powell's Comments

U.S. stocks ended a volatile session lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 75 basis points at its recent meeting.

Stocks initially surged following the rate decision, but moved lower after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said it’s very premature to think about pausing rate hikes.

Shares of CVS Health Corporation CVS gained 2.3% on Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY22 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.

The Nasdaq 100 dipped 3.39% to close at 10,906.34 on Wednesday, amid decline in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Apple Inc. AAPL. The S&P 500 fell 2.50%, while the Dow Jones dropped around 505 points to settle at 32,147.76 in the previous session.

All the major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a lower note, with consumer discretionary and information technology stocks recording the biggest plunge on Wednesday.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) gained 0.9% to 26.04 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.