The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Thursday.

U.S. stocks settled mixed on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 150 points during the session. The Federal Reserve, on Wednesday, decided to leave interest rates unchanged during its January FOMC meeting.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares fell almost 10% on Thursday, recording its worst session since March 2020 after the company reported that cloud growth slowed during the recent quarter. ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) shares tumbled 10% even after upbeat earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter.

However, shares of Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose more than 10% on Thursday after the Facebook parent issued an upbeat first-quarter sales outlook. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) shares gained over 5% after delivering better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance.

On the economic data front, U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 209,000 from the revised reading in the previous week, compared to market estimates of 205,000. The trade deficit rose sharply to $56.8 billion in November, from a $29.2 billion gap in the previous month. U.S. wholesale inventories increased by 0.2% to $915 billion in November, the same pace as in the previous month. U.S. factory orders climbed by 2.7% from the previous month to $621.6 billion in November.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with real estate, communication services and financial stocks recording the biggest gains on Thursday. However, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 56 points to 49,071.56 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.13% to 6,969.01, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.72% at 23,685.12 during Thursday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) today.

What Is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 61.7, the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 64.

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.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock