Market Volatility Decreases Following Powell Comments; S&P 500 Settles Slightly Lower

The S&P 500 settled slightly lower on Wednesday, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that additional interest rate hikes are on the way this year.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA shares settled lower on Wednesday following a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. government is considering semiconductor export limits to China.

Netflix, Inc. NFLX shares gained 3% after Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and raised its price target from $450 to $500.

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

The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.12% to close at 14,964.58 on Wednesday, amid gains in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT and Apple Inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 fell 0.04%, while the Dow Jones dropped 0.22% to 33,852.66 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 2.3% to close at 13.43 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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