Dow Jumps Around 300 Points Ahead Of Jobs Report: Investor Sentiment Improves, But Fear & Greed Index Remains In ‘Fear’ Zone

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

U.S. stocks settled higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index gaining almost 300 points during the session.

The U.S. said it launched overnight airstrikes on Iranian targets, Tehran retaliated, and reports of hits on tankers near the strait kept a war premium embedded in crude.

On the economic data front, ADP showed private payrolls rose just 38,000 in August, the weakest since January and below the 47,000 consensus, while July factory orders climbed 0.9% versus the 0.6% expected. Data on nonfarm payrolls for August will be released on Friday.

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) surged 3.2% on reports it is in advanced talks to acquire Hugging Face for $14 billion.

On the earnings front, Gitlab Inc (NASDAQ:GTLB) shares jumped 10% after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter guidance above estimates. Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) gained around 16% after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued current-quarter guidance above estimates.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with communication services, materials and health care stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, real estate stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 295 points to 53,061.95 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 gained 0.46% to 7,666.60, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.45% at 26,217.83 during Wednesday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Campbell’s Co (NASDAQ:CPB), Ciena Corp (NYSE:CIEN) and Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) today.

At a current reading of 33, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Wednesday, versus a prior reading of 31.

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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