Investor Fear Eases Ahead Of Fed's Decision; Dow Notches Best Day Since June

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed easing in the overall fear level, with the index moving to the "Fear" zone on Monday.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones recording its best session since June 2 ahead of Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and jobs report, due this week.

The Federal Reserve will announce policy decision on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Data on jobs report for October will be released on Friday.

Western Digital Corp WDC reported upbeat first-quarter results and announced a plan to separate its HDD and Flash businesses. McDonald's Corp MCD reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with communication services, financial and consumer staples stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 511 points to 32,928.96 on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 1.20% at 4,166.82, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.16% at 12,789.48 during Monday’s session. All three major indices recorded weekly losses, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling around 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively, last week.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, Pfizer Inc. PFE, Huntsman Corporation HUN and Caterpillar Inc. CAT today.

At a current reading of 30.7, the index moved to the "Fear" zone on Monday, compared to a previous reading of 27.

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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