The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Friday.
U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 300 points during the session following the release of jobs data.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 29,000 versus roughly 84,000-90,000 expected, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
The report added another leg to the tension between a soft labor market and a still-restrictive Fed. Investors now see little chance of a hike at the October meeting, with odds of a hike falling to 17%.
Despite Friday’s gains, the Dow fell around 1.3% last week, while the S&P slipped 0.3%. However, the Nasdaq gained 0.6% on the week.
On the geopolitical front, President Donald Trump has deployed 9,000 additional troops to the Middle East and warned of possible strikes against Iran.
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) was the worst performer in the Russell 1000 after Toshiba announced plans to double its hard disk drive production capacity. Seagate Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:STX) also fell sharply.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with consumer discretionary, information technology and materials stocks recording the biggest gains on Friday. However, health care stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.
The Dow Jones closed higher by around 250 points to 51,176.96 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.73% to 7,722.72, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.19% at 27,190.86 during Friday’s session.
What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?
At a current reading of 31, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 29.
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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