Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Neutral' Zone Ahead Of Jobs Report; Dow Records Worst Session Since March 2023

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in the overall market sentiment, with the index moving to the "Neutral" zone on Thursday.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones index recording its worst session since March 2023 and also logging losses for the fourth straight day.

The S&P 500 fell 2% so far this week, while the 30-stock Dow has declined around 3% week-to-date.

On the economic data front, U.S. jobless claims rose by 11,000 from the previous week’s revised reading to 221,000 on March, the most in two months. U.S. trade deficit increased to $68.9 billion in February versus a revised $67.6 billion gap in the previous month.

Data on nonfarm payrolls will be released on Friday, with analysts expecting payrolls increasing 200,000 for March.

Shares of RPM International Inc. RPM fell more than 5% on Thursday after the company reported third-quarter FY24 results. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. LW fell over 19% after the company reported weak third-quarter results and cut its FY24 outlook.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with communication services, information technology and health care stocks recording the biggest losses on Thursday.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 530 points to 38,596.98 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 1.23% at 5,147.21, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.40% at 16,049.08 during Thursday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. GBX and Byrna Technologies Inc. BYRN today.

At a current reading of 48.8, the index moved to the "Neutral" zone on Thursday versus a prior reading of 63.4.

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.

Read Next: Greenbrier Likely To Report Lower Q2 Earnings; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts