Investor Optimism Decreases Further As Dow Tumbles 150 Points

U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday, with the CNN Money Fear and Greed index inching toward the "fear" zone. However, the index still remained in the "neutral" zone on Wednesday.

U.S. private-sector business activity contracted for a second month in a row during the month of August. The S&P Global flash composite PMI fell to 45 in August from 47.7 in July as a reading below the 50 mark signals a contraction in activity.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results, while Macy's, Inc. M reported upbeat Q2 EPS and sales results.

The Dow fell 0.47% to close at 32,909.59 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.22%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.01% to settle at 12,381.30 in the previous session.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Brinker International, Inc. EAT, NetApp Inc. NTAP, Salesforce Inc CRM and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, scheduled for release today.

At a current reading of 45.0, the index remained in the "neutral" zone on Wednesday, following a previous reading of 46.0.

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.