Investor Fear Eases Slightly After Dow Jumps Over 500 Points

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some decline in the fear level after the Dow Jones recorded a big comeback from its 2022 low.

The Bank of England stepped in to take action to stabilize spiking U.K. gilt yields, which also provided some stabilization to the British pound on Wednesday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 snapped a six-session losing streak, but the 30-stock index is still 19.7% down from its 52-week high, while the S&P 500 is down around 22.8% from its record high level.

The Dow gained 1.88% to close at 29,683.74 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 1.97% to 3,719.04, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.05% to settle at 11,051.64 in the previous session.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Micron Technology, Inc. MU, NIKE, Inc. NKE, CarMax, Inc. KMX and Worthington Industries, Inc. WOR, scheduled for release today.

At a current reading of 18.0, the index remained in the "extreme fear" zone, following a previous reading of 16.0.

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.