S&P 500 Edges Higher, Market Volatility Decreases

The S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Monday after First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company entered an agreement to purchase all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bank.

The S&P 500 banks index gained 3.1%, while the KBW regional banking index gained around 0.6% on Monday.

U.S. authorities, meanwhile, plan to give First Republic Bank FRC more time to ramp up its balance sheet and have yet to decide on what support, if any, to provide to the troubled lender, according to Bloomberg.

Major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a mixed note, with energy and financials stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday. However, communication services and information technology stocks closed lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.74% to close at 12,673.07 on Monday, amid losses in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 rose 0.16%, while the Dow Jones added 0.60% to 32,432.08 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 5.2% to 20.60 points on Monday.

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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