S&P 500 Settles Higher, Market Volatility Increases Further

The S&P 500 settled higher on Thursday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that regulators are prepared to take additional steps to protect customer bank deposits if necessary.

The Federal Reserve increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75%-5% at its March meeting.

Block, Inc. SQ shares dropped around 15% on Thursday after Hindenburg Research issued a short report on the stock. Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN shares tumbled 14% after the company received a Wells Notice from the SEC alleging violations of federal securities laws in regards to the company's spot market and staking service.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with energy and utilities stocks recording the biggest losses on Thursday. However, communication services and information technology stocks closed sharply higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.29% to close at 12,729.23 on Thursday, amid gains in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 rose 0.30%, while the Dow Jones added 0.23% to 32,105.25 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 1.6% to 22.61 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.

Read Next: Top 5 Industrials Stocks That Are Ticking Portfolio Bombser