Volatility In Markets Decreases, S&P 500 Closes Slightly Lower

The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Wednesday following the release of corporate earnings.

Tesla Inc TSLA shares rose in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. International Business Machines Corporation IBM also reported better-than-expected sales for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

As far as the earnings season is concerned, 95 S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results so far, with around 67% of those exceeding market estimates.

All three major indices pared their losses by the end of the session to close well off session lows on Wednesday.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with financials and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest surge on Wednesday. However, utilities and industrials stocks moved lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.27% to close at 11,814.69 on Wednesday, amid a slight decline in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.02%, while the Dow Jones added 0.03% to 33,743.84 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.6% to 19.08 points on Wednesday.

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.

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