Fear Among US Investors Is Increasing, Here's Why

The overall fear level increased in the US stock markets, after the Wall Street settled slightly lower on Monday, according to the CNN Money Fear and Greed index.

U.S. stocks settled lower on Monday following a volatile trading session on Monday, after recording a biggest monthly surge in two years.

Stocks recorded gains last week on prospects that the US Federal Reserve might not act as aggressively with rate increases as some market experts had expected.

Shares of HSBC Holdings plc HSBC jumped over 6% on Monday after the company reported quarterly earnings.

On the economic data front, the ISM manufacturing PMI declined to 52.8 in July from 53 in the previous month. However, analysts were projecting a reading of 52.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18% to close at 12,368.98 on Monday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500, meanwhile, lost 0.14% and 0.28%, respectively in the previous session.

At a current reading of 40.0, the index remained in the "fear" zone on Tuesday, following a previous reading of 42.0.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

The Fear & Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment. It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices, while higher greed has the opposite effect. The index is calculated based on seven equal-weighted indicators. The index ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness.