Fear & Greed Index In 'Neutral' Zone; Dow Records Gains For 8th Session

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled mostly higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones index recording gains for the eighth straight session and notching its best week of the year.

U.S. major indices also recorded gains last week, with the Dow gaining 2.16% to record its fourth positive week in a row. The S&P 500 gained 1.85%, gaining for the third straight week.

Shares of Sweetgreen, Inc. SG jumped around 34% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales results. DNOW Inc. DNOW shares tumbled over 10% after the company posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter financial results on Friday.

On the economic data front, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment declined to 67.4 in May versus 77.2 in the prior month, recording the weakest level in six months. However, markets were expecting a reading of 76. Data on April's consumer price index will be released this week.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 125 points to 39,512.84 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.16% at 5,222.68, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.03% at 16,340.87 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Paysafe Limited PSFE, StoneCo Ltd. STNE, and Tencent Music Entertainment Group TME today.

At a current reading of 47.5, the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 47.7.

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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