Dow Jumps Over 500 Points But Records Weekly Loss: Investor Sentiment Improves, Fear & Greed Index In ‘Neutral’ Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 500 points during the session as Treasury yields stopped climbing.

However, all major indices recorded losses last week, with the S&P 500 falling 1.4% and the Nasdaq losing 2% in the period. Both indices ended three-week winning streaks. The Dow also recorded a weekly loss of 0.9%, registering back-to-back weekly losses.

On the economic data front, S&P Global’s flash composite PMI jumped to 56.0 in August from 54.5, the strongest reading in 52 months, with services surging to 56.8 versus 54.0 expected.

On the earnings front, Ubiquiti Inc (NYSE:UI) shares fell around 3% after reporting fourth-quarter results. BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) shares gained over 5% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with health care, materials and financial stocks recording the biggest gains on Friday. However, energy and utilities stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 518 points to 53,277.01 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.43% to 7,674.37, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.43% at 26,180.46 during Friday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from PDD Holdings Inc – ADR (NASDAQ:PDD), Xpeng Inc – ADR (NYSE:XPEV) and Gorilla Technology Group Inc (NASDAQ:GRRR) today.

At a current reading of 55, the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 53.

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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