US stocks closed mixed despite fall in volatility

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday despite a decline in volatility.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 85 points to 33,981 with Coca-Cola and IBM falling 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively.

The S&P 500 rose 17 to 3,976 and the Nasdaq soared 201, or 1.5%, to 13,246 with Tesla jumping 5% and Moderna soaring 10.5%.

Microsoft rose 1.7% after it won a $22 billion contract to supply the US Army combat troops with augmented reality headsets.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes was up 0.9% to 1.742%, but the VIX volatility index plummeted 1.4% to 19.33.

Although Bitcoin saw its price slide $2,000 in five minutes in volatile trading, the top cryptocurrency was up to $58,600 around closing.