Fear Among US Investors Is Growing: Here's Why

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further growth in the overall fear level, inching closer towards the "Extreme Fear" zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, following a surge in the 10-year Treasury yield, which surpassed 5% for the first time in 16 years on Thursday.

American Express Company AXP shares fell more than 5% on Friday following third-quarter earnings. Shares of Schlumberger N.V. SLB fell around 3% on Friday after the company released results for its third quarter.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with energy, information technology and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 287 points to 33,127.28 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 1.26% at 4,224.16, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.53% at 12,983.81 during Friday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from W. R. Berkley Corporation WRB, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. CLF and Packaging Corporation of America PKG today.

At a current reading of 25.8, the index remained in the "Fear" zone on Friday, compared to a previous reading of 29.7.

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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