Investor Optimism Improves After US Stocks Record Weekly Gains

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed slight improvement in overall sentiment among U.S. investors on Friday.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday after Republicans withdrew from debt ceiling negotiations, declaring the discussions to be at an impasse.

Foot Locker, Inc. FL shares dropped around 27% on Friday after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter results and lowered its FY23 guidance.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 109 points to 33,426.63 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.14% at 4,191.98, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.24% to settle at 12,657.90 during the session.

All three major indices recorded gains last week, with the S&P 500 gaining around 1.7%, recording the best weekly performance since March. The Dow also climbed around 0.4% last week.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM, HEICO Corporation HEI and Nordson Corporation NDSN today.

At a current reading of 67.0, the index remained in the "Greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 66.0

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.

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