S&P 500 Settles Lower Following Fed Minutes, Market Volatility Decreases Slightly

The S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday following the release of inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Wednesday that the CPI index increased by 5% year on year in March, down from 6% in February. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed that officials agreed to keep hiking rates in order to fight inflation.

Financial markets are now pricing in a 70% likelihood of 25 bps rate increase at the Fed’s meeting next month.

American Airlines Group Inc. AAL shares dropped over 9% on Wednesday after the company issued preliminary results below analyst expectations.

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

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with consumer discretionary and communication services stocks recording the biggest losses on Wednesday. However, energy and materials stocks closed slightly higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.89% to close at 12,848.35 on Wednesday, amid losses in shares of Tesla Inc TSLA and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.

The S&P 500 fell 0.41%, while the Dow Jones lost 0.11% to 33,646.50 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.1% to 19.09 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.

Read Next: Skillz And 2 Other Stocks Under $2 Insiders Are Aggressively Buying