The market gave investors a reality check on Monday, with the Dow tumbling more than 400 points as last week's strong rally ran out of steam. Meanwhile, the CNN Money Fear and Greed Index showed a slight improvement but remained firmly planted in "Extreme Fear" territory.

Major indexes closed sharply lower, with the Dow Jones settling at 47,289.33, down approximately 427 points. The S&P 500 slipped 0.53% to 6,812.63, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.38% to 23,275.92. The pullback comes after an impressive late-November rally that saw the Dow surge more than 3% last week, the S&P 500 climb nearly 4%, and the Nasdaq jump over 4%.

Looking at the full November picture, though, results were mixed. The Nasdaq dipped almost 2% for the month, while the S&P 500 and Dow posted slight gains thanks largely to last week's performance.

Economic data offered little comfort. The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.2 in November, marking the lowest reading in four months and missing market expectations of 48.6. That's down from 48.7 in October. The S&P Global manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 52.2 from a preliminary reading of 51.9, but that still represented a decline from October's final reading of 52.5.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 finished in the red, with utilities, industrials, and health care stocks taking the biggest hits. Energy and information technology stocks bucked the trend, managing to close higher.

In corporate news, Strategy Inc. (MSTR), the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, slashed its 2025 earnings guidance and announced a share sale to build a $1.44 billion U.S. dollar reserve—a notable shift in strategy for the crypto-focused company.

Investors are keeping an eye on upcoming earnings reports from United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), Signet Jewelers Ltd. (SIG), and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD) today.

Understanding the Fear & Greed Index

The CNN Business Fear & Greed Index ticked up to 23.0 from a previous reading of 18.6, showing some easing in fear levels. Still, at 23.0, the index remains firmly in the "Extreme Fear" zone.

The index measures current market sentiment based on a simple premise: excessive fear tends to push stock prices down, while excessive greed drives them up. It calculates this using seven equal-weighted indicators, producing a score from 0 to 100. Zero represents maximum fear, while 100 signals maximum greediness. The current reading suggests investors remain deeply concerned about market conditions despite recent gains.