Investor Sentiment Declines After Nasdaq Falls 2%

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in overall sentiment among U.S. investors on Thursday.

The Dow Jones recorded gains for a ninth straight session following strong earnings from Johnson & Johnson JNJ. Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV also gained on Thursday following better-than-expected quarterly sales.

The Nasdaq fell sharply on Thursday after shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX dropped 8.4% on Thursday following downbeat quarterly revenue. Tesla, Inc. TSLA shares also tumbled 9.7% on Thursday following quarterly results.

On the economic data front, U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 from the earlier week to 228,000 in the week ending July 15, versus market expectations of 242,000.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 164 points to 35,225.18 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.68% at 4,534.87, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.05% at 14,063.31 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from American Express Company AXP, Schlumberger Limited SLB and AutoNation, Inc. AN today.

At a current reading of 80.0, the index remained in the "Extreme Greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 82.0

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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