Investor Fear Increases Further After Dow Drops For Fifth Session

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a further increase in the fear level among US investors.

The Dow Jones closed lower for fifth straight day amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank SIVB. The Federal Reserve Board, meanwhile, announced funding to backstop the struggling bank with the Bank Term Funding Program.

Bank stocks remained under pressure, with shares of big banks, including, JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM and Citigroup Inc C moving lower on Monday.

The Dow closed lower by around 90 points to 31,819.14 on Monday. The S&P 500 fell 0.15% to 3,855.76, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.45% to settle at 11,188.84 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Lennar Corporation LEN, Caleres, Inc. CAL and Guess?, Inc. GES today.

At a current reading of 19.0, the index remained in the "Extreme Fear" zone, compared to a previous reading of 24.0.

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.

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