Wednesday brought a case of the jitters to Wall Street, with the CNN Money Fear and Greed Index sliding into "Neutral" territory as tech stocks dragged the market lower. It's the kind of day where good news doesn't quite seem good enough.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% as investors turned cautious ahead of a closely watched Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs. When people start worrying about what nine judges might say about trade policy, you know the anxiety levels are rising.
Chip stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure. Shares of Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), and Micron Technology Inc. (MU) all settled lower on Wednesday, reminding everyone that semiconductor stocks can be a bit moody when uncertainty creeps in.
The earnings picture painted an interesting contrast. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (C) both reported upbeat quarterly results, yet their shares closed lower anyway. Sometimes beating expectations just isn't enough to overcome a broader market malaise.
On the economic front, the data actually looked pretty solid. U.S. retail sales increased 0.6% month-over-month in November, marking the largest surge since July and a nice reversal from October's revised 0.1% drop. The U.S. current account deficit shrank by 9.2% to $226.4 billion in the third quarter, better than the market's $238 billion estimate. Producer prices increased 0.2% month over month in November, following a 0.1% gain in October and landing right in line with expectations.
Despite the tech sector weakness, most sectors on the S&P 500 actually closed in positive territory. Energy, consumer staples, and real estate stocks recorded the biggest gains on Wednesday. But consumer discretionary and information technology stocks bucked the trend, pulling the major indices lower.
The final tally showed the Dow Jones closing lower by around 42 points to 49,149.63. The S&P 500 fell 0.53% to 6,926.60, while the Nasdaq dipped 1% to 23,471.75 during the session.
Looking ahead, investors are awaiting earnings results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), and BlackRock Inc. (BLK).
Understanding the CNN Business Fear & Greed Index
At a current reading of 55, the index moved to the "Neutral" zone on Wednesday, down from a prior reading of 59.5. That's a noticeable shift in sentiment, even if we're not quite in fear territory yet.
The Fear & Greed Index measures current market sentiment based on a simple premise: higher fear puts downward pressure on stock prices, while higher greed pushes them up. The index calculates this mood using seven equal-weighted indicators, producing a reading from 0 to 100. Zero represents maximum fear, while 100 signals maximum greed. At 55, we're somewhere in the middle, where neither bulls nor bears have the upper hand.