S&P 500 Settles Higher For Fourth Session Amid Surge In Tech Stocks: Investor Sentiment Slips, But Fear Index Stays In 'Greed' Zone

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

U.S. stocks settled mixed on Thursday, with the S&P 500 recording gains for the fourth straight session. Week to date, the S&P 500 gained around 4.5%, while the Dow added around 2.6%. The Nasdaq has added around 6.6% during the period.

Tech giants have also recorded sharp gains during the week, with Nvidia NVDA and Tesla TSLA adding around 15% each. Shares of Amazon AMZN gained around 6%, while Alphabet GOOGL jumped 7% week-to-date.

Walmart Inc. WMT reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. Foot Locker, Inc. FL shares jumped around 86% on Thursday after DICK's Sporting Goods agreed to acquire the company.

On the economic data front, initial jobless claims came in unchanged from the previous week at 229,000 during the week ending May 10. U.S. retail sales increased by 0.1% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 1.7% gain in March. U.S. producer prices declined by 0.5% in April compared to a revised flat reading in the previous month and versus market estimates of a 0.2% gain.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with utilities, consumer staples and real estate stocks recording biggest gains on Thursday. However, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 272 points to 42,322.75 on Thursday. The S&P 500 gained 0.41% to 5,916.93, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18% at 19,112.32 during Thursday's session.

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Investors are awaiting earnings results from Flowers Foods, Inc. FLO, Brady Corporation BRC and RBC Bearings Incorporated RBC today.

At a current reading of 68.9, the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 70.4.

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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