The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, but the index remained in the “Extreme Fear” zone on Wednesday.
There's uncertainty in the market right now as investors try to determine how much President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports will affect the U.S. economy. Judging by the market's recent sell-off, they're not overly optimistic.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.22%) started this week tumbling 4% on Monday -- the index's worst day since September 2022 -- and is still 12.5% off its all-time highs after today's trading session.
In a stunning turn of events, the Nasdaq Composite has completely cratered and is now down over 13% since Feb. 18 (as of this writing). The culprit has been a combination of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and weak economic data that could be pointing to a recession, or perhaps stagflation.
The Nasdaq has entered a correction. A stock market correction means a decline of between 10% and 20% from all-time highs (a 20% decline officially triggers a bear market).
It's been a rough past four weeks for investors. All told, the Nasdaq Composite is now down 12% from its mid-February high.
Investors are experiencing the first big stock market sell-off of 2025. I have no idea -- and neither does anyone else -- when this drawdown will end or when another one will occur.
The Nasdaq index is now in correction territory, meaning it is now more than 10% down from its all-time high. While this may seem like a big deal, 10% corrections tend to occur just about every year, so this is something that investors must understand happens quite frequently.
In just a matter of weeks, tech stocks have gone from stretching to all-time highs to plunging on concerns around tariffs and even a recession.
After peaking on Dec. 16, the Nasdaq Composite -- which tracks almost every stock trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange -- has entered into a correction. The index is down around 9% year to date and 13% from its December peak.
Following the stock market's record-breaking run last year, the start of 2025 offers a timely reminder that risk and price volatility are normal parts of the investing process.
The 4% drop in the Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC 0.19%) on March 10 served as a wake-up call to investors. While that was not a record drop by any measure, it was the worst one-day decline since the fall of 2022, meaning many newer investors had never experienced a comparable decline.