Investor Optimism Rises Slightly Following PPI Data

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed slight improvement in overall market optimism following the release of another inflation data. The index, meanwhile, remained in the "neutral" zone on Friday.

Producer prices for the U.S. dropped 0.5% month-over-month in July, following a revised 1% increase in the previous month. Analysts, on the other hand, were expecting a 0.2% rise in producer prices. The CPI data released Wednesday also showed consumer prices coming in unchanged during July versus the prior month.

U.S. stock markets, however, closed mixed on Thursday on realization that the Fed would still need to aggressively raise interest rates to fully combat rising prices despite the recent data showing evidence of cooling inflation.

Shares of The Walt Disney Company DIS gained around 4.7% on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results.

U.S. stock futures, on the other hand, traded higher this morning on Friday ahead of the release of data on consumer sentiment, import and export prices.

The Dow Jones gained around 27 points to close at 33,336.67 on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.07%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.58%, to settle at 12,779.91 in the previous session.

At a current reading of 53.0, the index remained in the "neutral" zone on Friday, following a previous reading of 52.0.

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.