Investor Optimism Improves Further After Nasdaq Gains For Three Straight sessions

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further improvement in overall sentiment among U.S. investors on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday amid decline in yields, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recording gains for three straight sessions.

Shares of Foot Locker, Inc. FL fell more than 28% on Wednesday after the company reported a second-quarter revenue miss and an 11% rise in inventories. The company also lowered its gross margin guidance, citing more aggressive markdowns.

Shares of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA gained 6.6% in after-hours trading after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued strong revenue guidance for the third quarter.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

Majority of sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with communication services, information technology and real estate stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing lower during the Wednesday’s session.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 184 points to 34,472.98 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 1.10% at 4,436.01, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.59% at 13,721.03 during the session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR, Ulta Beauty, Inc. ULTA and Intuit Inc. INTU today.

At a current reading of 49.0, the index remained in the "Neutral" zone, compared to a previous reading of 47.0.

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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