Nasdaq Tumbles More Than 400 Points: Investor Fear Increases, Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Extreme Fear' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an increase in the overall fear level, while the index moved to the “Extreme Fear” zone on Thursday.

U.S. stocks settled lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite dipping more than 400 points during the session. Risk-off sentiment returned sharply on Thursday, with AI-linked stocks leading a broad selloff across Wall Street and renewed pressure hitting crypto markets.

In earnings news, Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) plunged more than 10%, despite beating Wall Street expectations last quarter. The move extends a recent trend of strong results sparking weak price reactions among high-flying stocks such as Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD).

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) also topped estimates but slid about 4% after management guided for slightly weaker licensing revenue ahead.

On the economic data front, U.S.-based employers announced 153,074 job cuts during October, up sharply from 54,064 in the previous month.

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

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 399 points to 46,912.30 on Thursday. The S&P 500 dipped 1.12% to 6,720.32, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.90% to 23,053.99 during Wednesday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:FUN), Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) and Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 23.6, the index moved to the “Extreme Fear” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 30.2.

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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