Nasdaq Jumps 2%; Volatility In Markets Decreases Further

The S&P 500 ended higher on Thursday following the release of several economic reports.

The US GDP grew by 2.1% in 2022, compared to a 5.9% expansion in 2021, while jobless claims dropped by 6,000 from the prior week to 186,000 in the week ending Jan. 21, 2023. The US trade deficit in goods increased to $90.3 billion in December versus a near two-year low level of $82.9 billion a month ago.

Visa Inc. V reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. Intel Corporation INTC reported downbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued soft guidance.

As far as the earnings season is concerned, more than one fourth of the S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results so far, with around 69% of those exceeding market estimates.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with energy and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest surge on Thursday. However, consumer staples stocks, bucked the overall market trend, moving lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 2% to close at 12,051.48 on Thursday, amid a slight decline in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.10%, while the Dow Jones rose 0.61% to 33,949.41 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 1.8% to 18.73 points 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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