Fear & Greed Index Moves Back To Neutral Zone Amid Drop In US Stocks

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index moved back to the "neutral" zone after the release of Fed minutes.

The central bank officials agreed they will likely need to maintain higher rates until inflation shows clear signs of a slowdown, according to Fed minutes released Wednesday.

Shares of Target Corporation TGT dropped 2.7% on Wednesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q2 earnings results. However, Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.

The Dow Jones dropped 0.50% points to close at 33,980.32 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.72%, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.25% to settle at 12,938.12 in the previous session.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT.

At a current reading of 55.0, the index moved back to the "neutral" zone on Thursday, following a previous reading of 57.0 ("greed" zone).

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.