Investor Fear Increases Ahead Of Fed's Policy Meeting This Week

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed another rise in the fear level among U.S. investors after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched the worst week since June.

Shares of FedEx FDX dropped sharply, recording their worst daily decline ever, after the company withdrew its guidance for the full year. Shares of the company’s rivals United Parcel Service, Inc. UPS dropped around 4.5%, while Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN stock declined 2.1% on Friday.

All the three major indices recorded their fourth losing week in five, with the Dow Jones dropping 4.1% and the S&P 500 down 4.8%. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled around 5.5% last week.

The US Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision on Wednesday, with markets expecting an interest rate increase of at least 75 basis points.

The Dow dropped 0.45% to close at 30,822.42 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.72% to 3,873.33, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.90% to settle at 11,448.40 in the previous session.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from AutoZone, Inc. AZO, scheduled for release today.

At a current reading of 36.0, the index remained in the "fear" zone, following a previous reading of 38.0.

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.