Why Fear Among US Investors Is Rising

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index remained in the "Fear" zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 100 points on Friday. The Federal Reserve, last week, maintained the federal funds rate within the 5.25% to 5.5% range at its September meeting. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that a majority of committee members view another rate increase as appropriate at one of the two remaining Federal Open Market Committee meetings this year.

On the economic data front, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 48.9 in September, from 47.9 in the prior month, beating market estimates of 48. The S&P Global services PMI declined to 50.2 in September, from 50.5 in August, and missing estimates of 50.6.

Shares of Scholastic Corporation SCHL fell more than 13% on Friday, after the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter on Thursday.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed in the red, with real estate, consumer discretionary and financial stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday. However, information technology and energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

The Dow closed lower by around 107 points at 33,963.84 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.23% to 4,320.06, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.09% to settle at 13,211.81. The blue-chip Dow fell 1.9% on the week, while the S&P 500 lost 2.9%.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from THOR Industries, Inc. THO, Puyi Inc. PUYI and Xiao-I Corporation AIXI today.

At a current reading of 35.9, the index remained in the "Fear" zone on Friday, compared to a previous reading of 40.6.

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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