S&P 500 Settles Lower Following Labor Report; Market Volatility Increases

The S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as investors assessed unexpectedly strong labor market report.

The Labor Department said the number of job vacancies in the U.S. rose by 358 thousand to 10.1 million in April. Traders are now seeing a 70% chance that the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points at its June 13-14 policy meeting.

The House passed the debt ceiling deal on Wednesday night. The bill now moves on to Senate.

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP shares tumbled 35% on Wednesday after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and also reduced its full-year guidance.

Majority of the sectors on S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with energy and industrials stocks recording the biggest losses on Wednesday. However, utilities and health care stocks closed higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.70% to close at 14,254.09 on Wednesday, amid losses in shares of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Microsoft Corp MSFT.

The S&P 500 fell 0.61%, while the Dow Jones fell 0.41% to 32,908.27 in the previous session. The Dow closed lower in May, while the Nasdaq added 5.8% last month.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 2.8% to close at 17.94 on Wednesday.

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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