The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a slight 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 more than 250 points during the session. Stocks also recorded losses last week, with the 30-stock Dow losing 0.5% and the S&P 500 falling about 0.4%.

Shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) fell around 4% on Friday, while Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) settled higher by 1.5% and 2.4%, respectively.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) shares dipped around 17% on Friday after the chipmaker issued a weak first-quarter outlook.

On the economic data front, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 56.4 in January from a preliminary reading of 54.0 and December’s reading of 52.9. The S&P Global composite PMI rose to 52.8 in January from 52.7 in the previous month.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with materials, consumer discretionary and consumer staples stocks recording the biggest gains on Friday. However, financial and industrials stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 285 points to 49,098.71 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.03% to 6,915.61, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.28% at 23,501.24 during Friday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD), Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) and Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ:SANM) today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 52.4, the index remained in the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 52.8.

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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