On Tuesday, the CNN Money Fear and Greed Index continued to linger in the “Fear” territory.
The U.S. stock market faced a dismal day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing its most significant downturn since March.
Investors are grappling with concerns regarding the Federal Reserve’s commitment to maintaining high interest rates for an extended period, which they fear could potentially hinder the nation’s economic growth.
In terms of economic data, the sale of new single-family homes experienced an 8.7% decline in August, reaching an annualized rate of 675,000. Meanwhile, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index dipped to 103 in September, down from 108.7 the previous month.
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) shares took a hit, falling by approximately 4% on Tuesday. This drop came as the Federal Trade Commission, along with 17 states, initiated legal action against the company, accusing it of leveraging monopolistic power to stifle competition.
Across the board, all sectors within the S&P 500 reported negative performance, with utilities and consumer discretionary stocks witnessing the most significant losses on Tuesday.
Specifically, the Dow concluded the day with a decline of roughly 388 points, settling at 33,618.88. The S&P 500 followed suit, falling by 1.47% to close at 4,273.53, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.57%, closing at 13,063.61 during Tuesday’s trading session.
Investors are now eagerly awaiting earnings reports from Paychex, Inc. (PAYX), Worthington Industries, Inc. (WOR), and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) today.
The Fear & Greed Index currently stands at 26.5, indicating that apprehension prevails in the market, a drop from the previous reading of 31.6.
But what exactly is the CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?
The Fear & Greed Index serves as a gauge of the prevailing market sentiment. It operates on the premise that heightened fear tends to put downward pressure on stock prices, while heightened greed has the opposite effect. The index derives its value from seven equally weighted indicators and spans a scale from 0 to 100. A reading of 0 signifies maximum fear, whereas a score of 100 indicates peak greediness.
