Market Volatility Decreases Following Nonfarm Payrolls Report; S&P 500 Closes Lower

The S&P 500 settled lower on Friday as investors digested the latest U.S. jobs report.

The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in June versus a revised gain of 306,000 jobs in May, recording the lowest reading since Dec. 2020. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, declined to 3.6% in June from 3.7% in May, in-line with market estimates.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA shares gained 8% on Friday after China ended its regulatory overhaul on fintech affiliate Ant Group by imposing a penalty of 7.12 billion yuan ($984 million).

Major indexes closed the week with losses after recording a strong first-half of 2023. For the week, the S&P 500 dropped around 1.2%.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with consumer staples and health care stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday. However, energy and materials stocks were among the top performers during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.35% to close at 15,036.85 on Friday, amid losses in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Tesla Inc TSLA.

The S&P 500 fell 0.29%, while the Dow Jones dropped 0.55% to 33,734.88 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 4% to close at 14.83 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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