CBOE Volatility Index Drops Sharply After CPI Report; Nasdaq Gains Over 1%

U.S. stocks settled higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq surging over 1% during the session.

The annual inflation rate in the U.S. eased to 3% in June, recording the lowest level since March 2021, versus May’s level of 4% and market expectations of 3.1%.

Big banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C and Wells Fargo & Company WFC will release earnings on Friday.

Vmware, Inc VMW shares gained 2.8% on Wednesday after Broadcom Inc AVGO won conditional approval from the European Commission to complete its acquisition of VMware.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with communication services and utilities stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, health care and industrials stocks closed lower during the Wednesday’s session.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.24% to close at 15,307.23 on Wednesday, amid gains in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Microsoft Corp MSFT.

The S&P 500 rose 0.74%, while the Dow Jones gained 0.25% to 34,347.43 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 8.8% to close at 13.54 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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