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

U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, as investors monitored the recent corporate earnings results.

Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) reported upbeat earnings and sales results for its second quarter, but saw a sequential decline in active accounts.

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) shares fell over 16% on Thursday after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter revenue results and reiterated FY23 guidance.

As far as the earnings season is concerned, 79% of the S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results so far, with around 82% of those exceeding market estimates.

On the economic data front, U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 from the previous week to 227,000 in the week ending July 29, in line with estimates. The ISM services PMI declined to 52.7 in July from 53.9 in June.

In other news, the Bank of England raised its interest rates by 25 basis points.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 67 points to 35,215.89 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.25% at 4,501.89, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.10% at 13,959.71 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI), Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) and Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) today.

At a current reading of 74.0, the index remained in the "Greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 73.0

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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