Investor Optimism Improves Despite Nasdaq Settling Lower

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in sentiment among investors followings signs that China’s government may begin to ease its strict COVID-19 restrictions amid protests in the country.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite settled lower for a third session in a row on Tuesday after recording sharp losses in the previous session.

Investors also await jobs data this week, including JOLTS job openings due on Wednesday and payrolls report scheduled for release on Friday

The Dow rose 0.01% to close at 33,852.53 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.16% to 3,957.63, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.59% to settle at 10,983.78 in the previous session.

Hormel Foods Corporation HRL, Salesforce, Inc. CRM and Donaldson Company, Inc. DCI are set to report quarterly earnings today.

At a current reading of 61.0, the index remained in the "Greed" zone, compared to a previous reading of 59.0.

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.