Investor Sentiment Falls; Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Greed' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in overall market sentiment, with the index moving back to the "Greed" zone on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index snapping its nine-day winning streak.

On the economic data front, the U.S. current account deficit narrowed by 7.6% to $200.3 billion in the third quarter, versus the revised figure of $216.8 billion in the prior quarter compared to markets estimates of a $196 billion gap.

FedEx Corporation FDX was the biggest laggard in the S&P 500, falling over 12% on Wednesday after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter financial results. Steelcase Inc. SCS shares gained around 11% during Wednesday's session after the company posted upbeat earnings for its third quarter.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with consumer staples, utilities and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest losses on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 475 points to 37,082.00 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 1.47% at 4,698.35, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.50% at 14,777.94 during Wednesday’s session.

The Dow is higher by around 3.2% in December, while the S&P 500 has added 2.9% during the period.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Carnival Corporation CCL, CarMax, Inc. KMX and NIKE, Inc. NKE today.

At a current reading of 71.4, the index moved to the "Greed" zone on Wednesday versus a prior reading of 77.

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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