Dow Declines For Seventh Session; Investors Sentiment Declines, Fear & Greed Index Remains In 'Neutral' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a decline in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones index falling for the seventh session in a row.

For the week, the Dow declined 1.8%, while the S&P 500 lost around 0.6%. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, gained 0.3% during the same period.

Nvidia NVDA shares fell over 2% on Friday, while Meta Platforms META shares lost more than 1% during the session.

On the economic data front, U.S. import prices increased by 0.1% from the previous month in November. U.S. export prices came in unchanged for November, compared to a 1% gain in the previous month.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with materials, energy and communication services stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday. However, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 86 points to 43,828.06 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell slightly to 6,051.09, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.12% at 19,926.72 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Zedge Inc ZDGE, Compass Minerals International, Inc. CMP and Mitek Systems, Inc. MITK today.

At a current reading of 50, the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 50.9.

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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