US Stocks Settle Higher Amid Low Volatility

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, after recording their biggest single-session percentage declines since June 2020 in the previous session.

Equity markets in the U.S. wavered for most of the day, but ended the session on a positive note.

U.S. producer prices dropped for a second consecutive month in August amid a further drop in the cost of gasoline. Consumer price index data released from the Labor Department on Tuesday revealed CPI reaching 8.3%, down from 8.5% in July. Economists estimated CPI would come in at 8%.

Shares of Apple Inc AAPL and Amazon.com Inc AMZN closed slightly higher on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.84% to close at 12,134.40 on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.34%. The Dow Jones gained around 30 points to settle at 31,135.09 in the previous session.

The major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with energy stocks recording the biggest surge on Wednesday. Real estate, however, was the worst performing sector, dropping around 1.4% in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 4.5% to 26.05 points.

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.