S&P 500 Settles Lower; Market Volatility Increases

The S&P 500 settled lower on Tuesday following the release of downbeat retail sales data and disappointing guidance from The Home Depot, Inc. HD.

The Commerce Department said retail sales in the US rose 0.4% month-over-month in April, but came in below market expectations for a 0.8% growth.

Capital One Financial Corporation COF shares rose over 2% on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a 9,922,000 stake in the company.

Majority of the sectors on S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with real estate and energy stocks recording the biggest losses on Tuesday. However, communication services and information technology stocks bucked the overall market trend, closed higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.09% to close at 13,426.02 on Tuesday, amid gains in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Microsoft Corp MSFT.

The S&P 500 lost 0.64%, while the Dow Jones fell 1.01% to 33,012.14 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 5.1% to close at 17.99 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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