The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a flicker of improvement in the market sentiment, keeping a grip on the “Greed” zone on Monday.
Monday witnessed U.S. stocks wrapping up on a predominantly gloomy note, with the Dow Jones index taking a significant tumble of over 200 points during the trading hours.
In a somewhat predictable turn of events, the headline annual inflation rate, marked by personal consumption expenditures (PCE), ticked up to 2.5% in February, inching past January’s 2.4% figure, thanks to an unforeseen surge in personal spending. On a monthly note, however, the inflation rate saw a drop from 0.4% to 0.3%, balancing the scales as personal spending soared by 0.8% to a staggering $145.5 billion, surpassing the expected 0.5% and the previous month’s 0.2% increase.
March painted a rosier picture for the ISM manufacturing PMI, perching at 50.3 compared to 47.8 in February, exceeding the market’s foresight of 48.4. Nonetheless, U.S. construction spending took a slight hit, receding by 0.3% from the prior month in February.
Torrid Holdings Inc. CURV reported fourth-quarter financial results that outshone expectations last Thursday. Meanwhile, Doma Holdings Inc. DOMA witnessed a surge of over 33% on Monday post-announcing a merger pact with TRG to delist at $6.29 per share in cash.
Despite this gloomy panorama, certain sectors such as communication services and energy stood firm against the tide, ending the day on a positive note. On the flip side, health care, real estate, and industrials sectors nosedived, recording the most substantial losses on Monday.
Come closing on Monday, the Dow Jones staggered, dropping by approximately 240 points to 39,566.85. Whereas the S&P 500 landed at 5,243.77 with a 0.20% decrease, the Nasdaq Composite seemed to shrug off the negativity, edging up by 0.11% to 16,396.83.
Investors are on the edge of their seats awaiting earnings results from heavyweights like Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. CALM, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. PLAY, and Paychex, Inc. PAYX, today.
The Fear & Greed Index sat at 72.4, continuing its residency in the “Greed” territory on Monday, an escalation from the previous 70.
Demystifying the CNN Business Fear & Greed Index
The Fear & Greed Index serves as a barometer of the present market sentiment. It operates on the belief that heightened fear casts a shadow on stock prices, while exuberant greed tends to have an uplifting influence. This index crunches data from seven equally-weighted indicators to derive a score between 0 and 100, where the extremes signify utmost fear and utmost greed, respectively.
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