Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Neutral' Zone After Dow Drops Over 200 Points

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index moved to the "Neutral" zone after the Dow Jones dropped more than 200 points on Wednesday.

Shares of First Republic Bank FRC dropped around 30% on Wednesday, extending losses after dipping more than 49% in the previous session as the bank reported a 40% drop in deposits for the first quarter.

Microsoft Corporation MSFT shares gained more than 7% on Wednesday to its highest level in more than a year after the company topped Street expectations for its latest quarter. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK rose around 1.5% during the session.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 229 points to 33,301.87 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.38% at 4,055.99, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.47% to settle at 11,854.35 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Mastercard Incorporated MA, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Caterpillar Inc. CAT today.

At a current reading of 52.0, the index moved to the "Neutral" zone, versus a previous reading of 57.0

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.

Read Next: Top 4 Financial Stocks That May Crash In April/em>