Investor Optimism Declines After Nasdaq Drops For Third Straight Session

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some decline in the overall sentiment among U.S. investors on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped for a third consecutive session on Wednesday following the release of weak economic reports.

Private businesses in the U.S. added 145,000 jobs in March versus a revised 261,000 in February and compared to expectations of 200,000. The S&P Global services PMI was revised lower to 52.6 in March versus a preliminary reading of 53.8. That followed Tuesday’s report, which showed job openings dropping to 9.9 million in February, versus market estimates of 10.4 million.

Chip stocks came under pressure, with shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD dropping more than 3% on Wednesday.

The Dow closed higher by around 80 points to 33,482.72 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.25% to 4,090.38, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.07% to settle at 11,996.86 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from RPM International Inc. RPM, Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ and Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. LW today.

At a current reading of 53.0, the index remained in the "Neutral" zone, versus a previous reading of 59.0

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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