Market Volatility Increases; S&P 500 Settles Slightly Higher

The S&P 500 settled slightly higher on Monday in a holiday-shortened trading session, helped by strength in bank stocks.

The S&P 500 banks index gained around 1.5%, with shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) gaining 1.7% and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) adding 1.5% on Monday.
Overall trading volume was light as the stock market closed early on Monday ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday.

The Nasdaq recorded its strongest first-half performance in 40 years, adding over 31% during the period. For the quarter, the S&P 500 jumped 8.3% while the Nasdaq Dow gained 3.4%.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with real estate and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday. However, health care and information technology stocks closed lower during the Monday’s session.

The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.19% to close at 15,208.69 on Monday, amid gains in shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA).

The S&P 500 rose 0.12%, while the Dow Jones gained 0.03% to 34,418.47 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 0.8% to close at 13.70 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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