Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Fear' Zone; US Stocks Settle Sharply Higher

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index moved to the "Fear" zone following a sharp drop in the US stocks.

Banks and other financial shares fell sharply on Thursday ahead of a key payroll report that could provide some insights to future rate hikes.

SVB Financial (NASDAQ:SIVB) shares fell over 60% on Thursday after the company announced a $1.25 billion common stock offering.

The Dow closed lower by around 544 points to 32,254.86 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 1.85% to 3,918.32, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.05% to settle at 11,338.35 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE), JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS) and Target Hospitality Corp. (NASDAQ:TH) today.

At a current reading of 35.0, the index moved to the "Fear" zone, compared to a previous reading of 46.0.

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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