Benzinga - by Avi Kapoor, Benzinga Staff Writer.
The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a slight decline in the overall market sentiment, but the index remained in the "Extreme Greed" zone on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday, ahead of a key inflation report. Data on personal consumption expenditure for January will be released on Thursday.
ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday. The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) posted better-than-expected sales for its fourth quarter.
On the economic data front, the U.S. economy grew an annualized 3.2% in the fourth quarter versus a 4.9% rate in the previous quarter. U.S. wholesale inventories declined by 0.1% month-over-month in January, following a 0.4% increase a month ago.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with real estate and financial stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, communication services and information technology stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.
The Dow Jones closed lower by around 23 points to 38,949.02 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.17% at 5,069.76, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.55% at 15,947.74 during Wednesday’s session.
Investors are awaiting earnings results from Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL), Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY), and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE: HPE) today.
At a current reading of 78.7, the index remained in the "Extreme Greed" zone on Wednesday, versus a prior reading of 78.9.
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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