Nasdaq Tumbles 225 Points But Market Volatility Eases Slightly

U.S. markets closed lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite dipping around 225 points.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 settled lower, with communication services stocks recording the biggest decline on Friday. Utilities, however, was the top performing sector in the previous session, gaining around 1.4%.

The Dow Jones fell 137.61 points to 31,899.29 on Friday, while the S&P 500 declined 0.93% to 3,961.63 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.4% to close at 23.03 points on Friday.

US manufacturing PMI declined to 52.3 in July from 52.7 in the previous month, recording its worst reading in two years, while services PMI tumbled to 47.00 from 52.7, also notching a 26-month low.

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) dipped 39.1% on Friday after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and also did not provide forecast.

As far as the earnings season is concerned, 106 S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results through Friday morning, with over 75% of those exceeding market estimates. The rate is down from the 81% beat rate during the previous four quarters.

Investors are now awaiting the release of Chicago Fed National Activity Index for June and Dallas Fed's general activity index for July, due today.