S&P 500 Settles Almost Flat; Market Volatility Decreases

The S&P 500 closed almost flat on Tuesday as investors monitored the progress on the debt limit agreement.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a debt ceiling agreement over the weekend.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index settled higher by 0.1% on Tuesday, after climbing to its strongest level since Feb. 2022 earlier during the session.

On the economic data front, the CB consumer confidence index fell to 102.3 in May, versus prior reading of 103.7. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 99.0. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index in the U.S. declined 1.1% year-over-year in March, recording the first drop since May 2012.

Majority of the sectors on S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with consumer staples and energy stocks recording the biggest losses on Tuesday. However, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks closed higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.40% to close at 14,354.99 on Tuesday, amid gains in shares of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Tesla Inc TSLA.

The S&P 500 closed almost flat, while the Dow Jones fell 0.15% to 33,042.78 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 2.7% to close at 17.46 on Tuesday.

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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