Fear Among US Investors Is Growing; Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Extreme Fear' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further growth in the overall fear level, with the index moving to the "Extreme Fear" zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, while the Nasdaq settled higher amid gains in Amazon.com, Inc AMZN shares. The company’s stock gained 6.8% after reporting stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Chevron Corporation CVX fell 6.7% on Friday after the company reported worse-than-expected third-quarter adjusted EPS results. Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM shares declined 1.9% following third-quarter results

On the economic data front, core PCE prices in the U.S. rose by 0.3% from the prior month in September. The annual rate, regarded as the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, fell to 3.7% in September. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US rose to 63.8 in October versus a preliminary level of 63.

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

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 367 points to 32,417.59 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.48% at 4,117.37, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.38% at 12,643.01 during Friday’s session.

All three major indices recorded weekly losses, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling around 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively, last week.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from ON Semiconductor Corporation ON, Pinterest, Inc. PINS and McDonald's Corporation MCD today.

At a current reading of 23.9, the index moved to the "Extreme Fear" zone on Friday, compared to a previous reading of 29.

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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