Market Volatility Drops Further Following Upbeat Payrolls Report

US stocks closed mixed on Friday as investors digested better-than-expected data on nonfarm payrolls.

The US economy unexpectedly added 263,000 jobs in November, following a revised 284,000 gain in October and also surpassing market estimates of 200,000. The unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.7% in November, while average hourly earnings increased by 0.6% to $32.82 in November.

The report was released two days after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the bank could slow the pace of interest rate increases.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with materials and industrials stocks recording the biggest surge on Friday. However, energy and information technology stocks traded lower in the previous session.

The Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.4% to close at 11,994.26 on Friday, amid a decline in shares of Apple Inc AAPL and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. The S&P 500 slipped 0.12%, while the Dow Jones gained 0.10% to settle at 34,429.88 in the previous session.

The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all recorded their second weekly gains in a row.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) dropped 3.9% to 19.06 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.