S&P 500 Records Weekly Gain, Market Volatility Increases

The S&P 500 settled the volatile session on a higher note amid recent concerns over the stability of the banking industry.

Deutsche Bank AG DB shares fell over 3% on Friday after the price of the bank's credit default swaps increased, raising concerns about the bank's health.

The Federal Reserve, last week, increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75%-5% at its March FOMC meeting.

Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI shares gained around 6% on Friday after the UK's CMA provisionally concluded the anticipated acquisition by Microsoft of Activision Blizzard will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming in the UK.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with real estate and utilities stocks recording the biggest gains on Friday. However, consumer discretionary and financial stocks closed lower during the session.

All the three major indices recorded weekly gains. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.30% to close at 12,767.05 on Friday, amid gains in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 rose 0.56%, while the Dow Jones added 0.41% to 32,237.53 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 3.9% to 21.74 points on Friday.

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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