Investor Optimism Falls Further Ahead Of Economic Reports

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further decline in overall sentiment among U.S. investors on Monday.

The Nasdaq added over 1% on Monday amid a recovery in chip stocks with NVIDIA Corporation NVDA adding over 7%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) gained 3% on Monday.

Data released last week showed producer prices in the U.S. increasing 0.3% month-over-month in July, recording the biggest rise since January, following a revised flat reading for June. Data released Thursday showed annual inflation rate in the U.S. rose to 3.2% in July from 3% in June, but down from market estimates of 3.3%.
Data on retail sales, import, export prices and business inventories will be released today.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with information technology and communication services stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday. However, utilities and real estate stocks closed lower during the Monday’s session.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 26 points to 35,307.63 on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.58% at 4,489.72, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.05% at 13,788.33 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Home Depot, Inc. HD, Agilent Technologies, Inc. A and H&R Block, Inc. HRB today.

At a current reading of 65.0, the index remained in the "Greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 66.0

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.

Read Next: These 3 Tech Stocks Delivering High-Dividend Yields Are Recommended By Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts