Investor Sentiment Improves Further, Dow Jumps Over 100 Points

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

U.S. stocks settled higher on Monday, driven by surge in Tesla, Inc. TSLA shares. Shares of the EV maker jumped more than 15% on Monday on reports the company will partner with Baidu for mapping and navigation for Full Self-Driving in China.

Apple Inc. AAPL shares rose 2.5% on Monday after Bernstein upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform. ON Semiconductor Corp ON reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.

On the economic data front, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing index fell slightly to -14.5 in April from March's reading of -14.4. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 146 points to 38,386.09 on Monday. The S&P 500 added 0.32% at 5,116.17, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.35% at 15,983.08 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, McDonald’s Corporation MCD, Starbucks Corp SBUX and The Coca-Cola Company KO today.

At a current reading of 43.5, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Monday, versus a prior reading of 42.5.

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.

Read Next: Jim Cramer Likes Palantir, Recommends Pioneer Natural Resources: ‘I Want You To Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching’