Nasdaq Closes Higher But CNN Fear & Greed Index Remains In 'Fear' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index remained in the "fear" zone after the U.S. stocks closed slightly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday.

The modest gains followed a sharp plunge on Tuesday, when the Dow Jones tumbled more than 1,200 points following the release of August’s consumer price index data.

Data released Wednesday showed the Producer Price Index for final demand declining 0.1% month-over-month in August, compared to a 0.4% drop in July.

The Dow gained 0.10% to close at 31,135.09 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.34% to 3,946.01, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.74% to settle at 11,719.68 in the previous session.

Moderna, Inc. MRNA was one of the top performing stocks on the Nasdaq, gaining over 6% on Wednesday, while Tesla, Inc. TSLA climbed around 3.6%.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Adobe Inc. ADBE and Bowlero Corp. BOWL, scheduled for release today.

At a current reading of 42.0, the index remained in the "fear" zone, following a previous reading of 42.0.

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.