Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Extreme Fear' Zone As Dow Dips Over 250 Points

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index moved to the "Extreme Fear" zone on Wednesday.

US stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday as concerns grew regarding Credit Suisse Group CS financial situation. The Saudi National Bank, one of Credit Suisse’s main investors, said it would not purchase any more shares of Credit Suisse.

However, stocks pared some losses as news broke that Swiss officials are discussing ways to intervene and help Credit Suisse according to Bloomberg.

The Dow closed lower by over 280 points to 31,874.57 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.70% to 3,891.93, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.05% to settle at 11,434.05 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Jabil Inc. JBL, Dollar General Corporation DG, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM and FedEx Corporation FDX today.

At a current reading of 19.0, the index moved to the "Extreme Fear" zone, compared to a previous reading of 26.0.

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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