Fear And Greed Index: Markets In Fear As Recession Concerns Grow

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed that the US equity markets are in a state of "fear," resulting in a sell-off on Wall Street on Monday. The Nasdaq index tumbled more than 2% amid a sharp decline in communication services stocks.

Market sentiment was hit by concerns around rising covid-19 cases in China, following the emergence of a new Omicron subvariant, as well as recession concerns in the US.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, released today, also declined to 89.5 in June, hitting the lowest level since January 2013.

Investors await the earnings season due to begin this week and is expected to show the impact of high inflation on major companies. US big banks, including, Morgan Stanley MS, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C and Wells Fargo & Company WFC are all set to release earnings this week. 

At a reading of 27.0, the Fear and Greed index has declined from a Fear level of 30.0 last week. Improving risk appetite supported some rebound on Wall Street following the release of better-than-expected jobs data for June. The US economy added 372,000 nonfarm payrolls in June, following 384,000 job additions in May.