Investor Optimism Increases Ahead Of FOMC Minutes; Dow Jumps Over 200 Points

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further improvement in overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the "Greed" zone on Monday.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 200 points during the session.

Microsoft Corporation MSFT shares gained over 2% on Monday after CEO Satya Nadella said Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join the company to lead a new advanced AI research team.

On the economic data front, the index of leading economic indicators fell 0.8% in October. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting today.

U.S. stock markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 204 points to 35,151.04 on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.74% at 4,547.38, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.13% at 14,284.53 during Monday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Best Buy Co., Inc. BBY, HP Inc. HPQ, Baidu, Inc. BIDU, and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA today.

At a current reading of 62.2, the index remained in the "Greed" zone on Monday, versus a prior reading of 58.2.

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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