Fear Among US Investors Increases After Dow Dips 400 Points

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a rise in the fear level among US investors.

US stocks ended lower on Friday, ending a volatile week of trading as investors digested banks earnings and inflation expectations data. The Dow gained 1.15% last week, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined around 1.55% and 3.11%, respectively, during the week.

Data from the University of Michigan showed long-run inflation expectations rose to 2.9% from 2.7%, while consumer sentiment climbed to 59.8 in September. US retail trade, meanwhile, came in unchanged for September.

The Dow fell 1.34% to close at 29,634.83 on Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 2.37% to 3,583.07, recording its seventh negative settlement in eight days. The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.08% to settle at 10,321.39 in the previous session, amid a decline in Tesla Inc TSLA shares.

JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM and Citigroup Inc C reported upbeat earnings for the latest quarter.

Investors are now awaiting earnings reports from Bank of America Corporation BAC and The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW.

At a current reading of 21.0, the index remained in the "extreme fear" zone, following a previous reading of 23.0.

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.