Dow Dips Over 1% As Iran Ceasefire Sinks: Investor Sentiment Weakens, Greed Index Remains In ‘Fear’ Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks settled mostly lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 1% during the session as surging energy prices rekindled inflation fears and pushed Treasury yields higher after President Donald Trump declared the June ceasefire with Iran "over." The move followed a fresh U.S. strike on Iran and reports that Tehran had targeted merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz, after Washington revoked a waiver that had allowed Iranian crude sales.

Shares of Penguin Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: PENG ) jumped around 25% on Wednesday after the company announced better-than-expected third-quarter financial results.

FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL ) shares dropped 13% after the company priced an upsized public offering of common stock at a steep discount to its previous closing price.

On the economic data front, U.S. wholesale inventories increased 0.1% month-over-month to $941.8 billion in May, compared to a revised 0.7% gain in April and down from market estimates of a 0.3% gain.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with materials, real estate and financial stocks recording the biggest losses on Wednesday.

However, information technology and energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 577 points to 52,348.39 on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.28% to 7,482.71, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.20% at 25,870.65 during Wednesday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP ), Simply Good Foods Co. (NASDAQ: SMPL ) and WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC ) today.

What Is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index? At a current reading of 42.3, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Wednesday, versus a prior reading of 43.7.

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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