S&P 500, Nasdaq Settle Lower As Tech Stocks Continue To Falter: Greed Index In 'Fear' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a further decline in the overall market sentiment, with the index remaining in the “Fear” zone on Thursday.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite moving lower after recording sharp losses in the prior session.

Shares of leading technology companies, including, Nvidia NVDA, while Meta Platforms META, Microsoft MSFT and Alphabet GOOG GOOGL settled lower on Thursday.

Ford Motor Company F shares tumbled over 18% on Thursday after the company missed analyst EPS estimates for the 2024 fiscal year second quarter. Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EW dipped 31% after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter sales results and issued third-quarter guidance below estimates. Also, the company acquired JenaValve and Endotronix.

On the economic data front, U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 to 235,000 in the week ending July 20, compared to market estimates of 238,000. The U.S. economy grew by an annualized 2.8% in the second quarter, up from 1.4% in the prior quarter, and higher than expectations of 2%.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with information technology, communication services and utilities stocks recording the biggest losses on Thursday. However, energy and industrial stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 81 points to 39,935.07 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.51% at 5,399.22, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.93% at 17,181.72 during Thursday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY, 3M Company MMM and Charter Communications, Inc. CHTR today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 39.3, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 40.2.

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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