Market Volatility Increases After Fed Minutes; S&P 500 Settles Lower

The S&P 500 settled lower on Wednesday following minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's recent meeting.

U.S. factory orders rose 0.3% month-over-month for May, versus market expectations for a 0.8% growth.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index fell around 2.2%, with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC.O) shares losing over 3% on Wednesday.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) shares gained 2.9% on Wednesday in anticipation of the launch of the company's Threads platform, which would compete with Twitter.

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

The Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.03% to close at 15,203.78 on Wednesday, amid slight decline in shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA).

The S&P 500 fell 0.20%, while the Dow Jones dropped 0.38% to 34,288.64 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 3.5% to close at 14.18 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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