Fear & Greed Index Remains In 'Greed' Zone; US Stocks Notch 4th Consecutive Weekly Gain

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further improvement in overall market sentiment, with the index remaining in the "Greed" zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks closed mixed in the holiday-shortened trading session on Friday, ahead of the major shopping season. Meanwhile, all three major indices recorded their fourth straight weekly gains.

iRobot Corporation IRBT shares jumped around 39% following a report suggesting Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN proposed acquisition of the robot vacuum maker is set to get unconditional approval from EU antitrust authorities.

On the economic data front, the S&P Global U.S. services PMI rose to 50.8 in November from 50.6 in the previous month, recording the highest reading in four months and higher than market estimates of 50.4. The S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 49.4 in November from 50 a month ago, and missing market expectations of 49.8.

U.S. stock markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and closed early on Black Friday.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 117 points to 35,390.15 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.06% at 4,559.34, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11% at 14,250.85 during Friday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Zscaler, Inc. ZS, Seadrill Limited SDRL, and Ituran Location and Control Ltd. ITRN today.

At a current reading of 68.2, the index remained in the "Greed" zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 66.8.

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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