S&P 500 Closes Flat, Market Volatility Increases Slightly

The S&P 500 closed almost flat on Tuesday, as investors awaited inflation data for March.

On a monthly basis, analysts expect the core CPI easing to 0.4% in March. Markets are now seeing a 67% chance that the Federal Reserve will raise rate by another 25 basis points at its May meeting.

Big banks, including Citigroup Inc. C, Wells Fargo & Co WFC and JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM will report earnings on Friday.

Shares of crypto and blockchain-related stocks, including Coinbase Global Inc COIN, Riot Platforms Inc RIOT and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc MARA closed higher on Tuesday after Bitcoin crossed the $30,000 mark for the first time since June 2022.

Moderna, Inc. MRNA shares dropped over 3% on Tuesday after the company said its first influenza candidate, mRNA-1010, did not accrue sufficient cases at the interim efficacy analysis to declare early success in the Phase 3 Northern Hemisphere efficacy trial and the independent DSMB recommended continuation of efficacy follow-up.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with financials and energy stocks recording the biggest gains on Tuesday. However, information technology and communication services closed lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.67% to close at 12,964.16 on Tuesday, amid losses in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.

The S&P 500 closed almost flat, while the Dow Jones added 0.29% to 33,684.79 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 0.7% to 19.10 points on Tuesday.

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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