The S&P 500 closed lower on Thursday after weak earnings results from companies including Tesla Inc TSLA And AT&T Inc. T.

Tesla shares fell about 9.8% on Thursday after the company reported a decline in operating margin. Elon Musk said Tesla has the potential to price its vehicles at zero profit.

AT&T shares plunged more than 10% after the company reported mixed first-quarter financial results. American Express Co AXP also released weak quarterly earnings.

As for earnings season, 16% of S&P 500 companies have released quarterly earnings so far, with about 76% beating market estimates.

Turning to economic data, US initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to 245,000 for the week ended April 15, beating market estimates of 240,000.

Most sectors of the S&P 500 ended negatively, with consumer discretionary and real estate stocks posting the biggest losses on Thursday. However, consumer staples stocks ended slightly higher during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.78% to close at 12,985.98 on Thursday amid a stock decline Tesla Inc TSLA And NVIDIA Corporation NVDA.

The S&P 500 fell 0.60% while the Dow Jones fell 0.33% to 33,786.62 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 4.3% to close at 17.17 on Thursday after falling to its lowest level since November 2021 on Wednesday.

What is the CBOE Volatility Index?

The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as the VIX, is a measure of stock market volatility expectations based on the call and put of the S&P 500 Index options.

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