The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index moved to the “Fear” zone on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks settled mostly higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 500 points during the session amid a decline in oil prices.
On the earnings front, shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) gained around 6% on Tuesday as the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings results and raised its full-year guidance. Shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) rose almost 5% following an earnings beat.
On the economic data front, U.S. housing starts dipped 5.2% month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.221 million in September. Building Permits fell 0.2% month-over-month to 1.400 million units in September, above market estimates of 1.390 million. U.S. pending home sales declined by 7.3% from the previous month in September, versus market estimates of a 0.5% decrease.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with real estate, health care and utilities stocks recording the biggest gains on Tuesday. However, communication services and information technology stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.
The Dow Jones closed higher by around 530 points to 52,495.88 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 gained 0.28% to 7,712.57, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.02% at 26,424.82 during Tuesday’s session.
Investors are awaiting earnings results from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today.
At a current reading of 27, the index moved to the “Fear” zone on Tuesday, versus a prior reading of 21.
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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