Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Greed' Zone After S&P 500 Settles Lower

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, as investors digested recent earnings reports and a fresh batch of economic data.

Merck & Co Inc MRK posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, while sales topped estimates. Pfizer Inc PFE reported a second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.67, down 67% Y/Y, but beating the consensus of $0.57.

On the economic data front, the ISM Manufacturing PMI in the US rose to 46.4 in July versus a nearly three-year low of 46 in the prior month, but down from market estimates of 46.8. The number of job openings declined by 34,000 from a month ago to 9.582 million in June.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 71 points to 35,630.68 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.27% at 4,576.73, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.43% at 14,283.91 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Phillips 66 PSX, McKesson Corporation MCK and QUALCOMM Incorporated QCOM today.

At a current reading of 71.0, the index moved to the "Greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 78.0

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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