Investor Optimism Decreases Slightly As Fear & Greed Index Remains In Neutral Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index remained in the "neutral" zone on Friday.

Markets were still monitoring Wednesday's minutes from the Fed’s recent meeting. Traders see the central bank raising rates by 50 basis points at its September meeting.

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO rose around 5.8% on Thursday after the company reported upbeat Q4 results and issued a strong sales forecast for the first quarter.

The Dow Jones rose 0.06% points to close at 33,999.04 on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.23%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.21% to settle at 12,965.34 in the previous session.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 250,000 the week ended August 13th, while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 6.2 in August from -12.3 in July.

Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Deere & Company DE and Foot Locker, Inc. FL.

At a current reading of 54.0, the index remained in the "neutral" zone on Friday, following a previous reading of 55.0.

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.