Market Volatility Increases After Earnings Reports; S&P 500 Closes Higher

The S&P 500 closed higher on Wednesday, as investors assessed recent earnings reports.

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS gained around 1% after releasing results for its second quarter.

After the closing bell, Tesla Inc TSLA reported better-than-expected earnings and sales results for its second quarter, but said operating margin narrowed to 9.6% from 14.6% in the year-ago period. Netflix, Inc. NFLX reported upbeat earnings for the second quarter, while sales missed expectations.

The Dow notched gains for the eight straight session, its longest winning streak since Sept. 2019.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with utilities and real estate stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, materials and information technology stocks settled lower during the Wednesday’s session.

The Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.1% to close at 15,826.35 on Wednesday, amid decline in shares of Tesla Inc TSLA and Microsoft Corp MSFT.

The S&P 500 rose 0.24%, while the Dow Jones gained 0.31% to 35,061.21 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 3.5% to close at 13.76 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.

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