Dow Jumps Over 300 Points Following Recent Inflation Data; Investor Sentiment Improves, Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Neutral' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in the overall market sentiment, with the index moving to the “Neutral” zone on Thursday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones index jumping over 300 points as investors monitored recent inflation data and updates on tariff plans.

The Producer Price Index surged 3.5% year over year in January, according to Thursday's release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 7,000 from the previous week to 213,000 during the first week of February, down from market estimates of 215,000.

Some big tech stocks provided a boost to markets on Thursday, with shares of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA gaining over 3% after HPE announced the first shipment of the company’s Grace Blackwell System. AppLovin Corporation APP shares jumped 24% after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued first-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Tesla, Inc. TSLA also added 5.8% during the session following upbeat analyst calls on the stock as well as news over new EV taxes to finance road repairs which could impact its rivals.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with materials, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks recording gains on Thursday.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 343 points to 44,711.43 on Thursday. The S&P 500 climbed 1.04% to 6,115.07, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.50% at 19,945.64 during Thursday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Enbridge Inc. ENB, Moderna, Inc. MRNA and Magna International Inc. MGA today.

At a current reading of 46.7, the index moved to the “Neutral” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 43.

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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