Market Volatility Rises Following Tesla, Netflix Earnings Reports; Dow Gains For Ninth Session

The S&P 500 closed lower on Thursday, following losses in shares of Tesla Inc TSLA and Netflix Inc NFLX. However, the Dow notched gains for the ninth straight session.

Shares of Tesla dipped 9.7%, notching its biggest single-session percentage decline since April 20, after the company reported lower second-quarter gross margin.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 from the earlier week to 228,000 in the week ending July 15, versus market expectations of 242,000. Existing home sales in the U.S. declined 3.3% to an annualized rate of 4.16 million units in June.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with utilities and health care stocks recording the biggest gains on Thursday. However, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks settled lower during the Thursday’s session.

The Nasdaq 100 dipped 2.28% to close at 15,466.09 on Thursday, amid losses in shares of Tesla Inc TSLA and Netflix Inc NFLX.

The S&P 500 fell 0.68%, while the Dow Jones gained 0.47% to 35,225.18 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 1.7% to close at 13.99 on Thursday.

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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