Market Volatility Decreases Following Release Of Fed Minutes

US stocks recorded gains on Wednesday, following the release of Fed minutes.

The Federal Open Market Committee minutes on Wednesday indicated that policymakers at the U.S. central bank judged that “slowing in the pace of increase would likely soon be appropriate.”

Trading volume, however, was thin on Wednesday as markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Nordstrom, Inc. JWN shares dropped over 4% on Wednesday after the company reported Q3 financial results.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with consumer discretionary and communication services stocks recording the biggest surge on Wednesday. However, energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, dropping more than 1% in the previous session.

The Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.97% to close at 11,838.72 on Wednesday, amid a drop in shares of Tesla Inc TSLA and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. The S&P 500 rose 0.59%, while the Dow Jones gained around 96 points to settle at 34,194.06 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 4.1% to 20.42 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.