Dow Jumps Over 600 Points Following Strong Bank Earnings: Greed Index Remains In 'Extreme Fear' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed easing in the overall fear level, while the index remained in the “Extreme Fear” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 600 points during the session as investors welcomed upbeat bank earnings and cooler-than-expected inflation data, while largely shrugging off trade war concerns after China raised tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Producer prices cooled to 2.7% year-over-year in March, well below the 3.3% consensus, while the monthly figure declined by 0.4% — the steepest drop since 2023.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected first-quarter EPS and revenues. Morgan Stanley MS reported a first-quarter 2025 EPS of $2.60, up from $2.02 a year ago and beating the consensus of $2.21.

Despite significant volatility last week, all three major averages recorded gains during the period. The S&P 500 gained 5.7% to record its best week since November 2023, while the Nasdaq jumped 7.3%, notching its best week since November 2022. The Dow also jumped around 5% last week.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with energy, information technology, and materials stocks recording the biggest gains on Friday.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 619 points to 40,212.71 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 1.81% to 5,363.36, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.06% to 16,724.46 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, M&T Bank Corp. MTB, and Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. PNFP today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 12.7, the index remained in the “Extreme Fear” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 8.3.

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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