Investor Sentiment Declines Further After Dow Settles Lower

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed another decline in overall sentiment among US investors.

US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday after recording sharp losses in the previous session following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Investors assessed the economic data, which showed private businesses in the US adding 242,000 jobs in February versus a revised 119,000 gain in January and above market expectations of 200,000. The number of job openings fell by 410,000 to 10.824 million in January.

The Dow closed lower by around 58 points to 32,798.40 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.14% to 3,992.01, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.40% to settle at 11,576.00 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ, Oracle Corporation ORCL and JD.com, Inc. JD today.

At a current reading of 46.0, the index remained in the "Neutral" zone, compared to a previous reading of 48.0.

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.

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