Dow, S&P 500 Settle At Record High Levels, Record 6th Consecutive Week Of Gains: Fear Index Moves To 'Extreme Greed' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index moved to the “Extreme Greed” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones index and S&P 500 jumping to fresh record highs during the session.

All three major indices recorded gains for the sixth straight week, with the Dow and S&P 500 gaining 0.96% and 0.85%, respectively. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, added 0.80% last week.

On the economic data front, U.S. housing starts fell by 0.5% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 1.354 million units in September. Building permits declined by 2.9% to an annual rate of 1.428 million in September.

Netflix NFLX shares jumped around 11% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The Procter & Gamble Company PG posted upbeat quarterly earnings, while revenue missed estimates.

As far as the earnings season is concerned, over 70 S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results so far, with around 75% of those exceeding market estimates.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 37 points to 43,275.91 on Friday. The S&P 500 gained 0.40% to rise to 5,864.67, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.63% to close at 18,489.55 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from SAP SE SAP, Nucor Corporation NUE, and Logitech International S.A. LOGI today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 75, the index moved to the “Extreme Greed” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 70.

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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