S&P 500 Settles Lower, Market Volatility Decreases

The S&P 500 fell on Friday after surprisingly strong jobs report for the month of January. The S&P 500 still recorded a gain last week, while the Nasdaq rose for the fifth straight week, its longest streak since late 2021. US jobs growth increased sharply, with nonfarm payrolls rising by 517,000 jobs in January, well above market estimates of 185,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% last month. Shares of Apple Inc. AAPL rose 2.4% on Friday after the company reported Q1 financial results. Alphabet Inc. GOOGL shares fell 2.8% after the company reported mixed Q4 results. The company reported a year-over-year decline in Google advertising revenue. All the major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with consumer discretionary and communication services stocks recording the biggest plunge on Friday. The Nasdaq 100 dipped 1.79% to close at 12,573.36 on Friday, amid losses in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Microsoft Corp MSFT. The S&P 500 lost 1.04%, while the Dow Jones fell 0.38% to 33,926.01 in the previous session. The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 2.1% to 18.33 points on Friday. 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. Read Next: Top 5 Health Care Stocks That May Rally