S&P 500 Settles Lower Following Economic Reports, Market Volatility Increases

The S&P 500 settled lower on Wednesday amid concerns at Credit Suisse Group AG CS.

Credit Suisse shares closed lower by around 14% on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia's SNB said it cannot provide further money to the bank because it cannot go above 10% ownership. The company’s stock, however, rebounded after hours following reports suggesting Swiss officials are discussing ways to support the bank.

Investors also assessed the economic reported, which showed retail sales in the US dropping 0.4% month-over-month in February versus a revised 3.2% increase in January. Producer prices for final demand declined 0.1% month-over-month in February versus market estimates of a 0.3% growth.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with communication services and utilities stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, energy and materials stocks closed sharply lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.42% to close at 12,251.32 on Wednesday, amid gains in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.

The S&P 500 fell 0.70%, while the Dow Jones lost 0.87% to 31,874.57 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 10.1% to 26.13 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.

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