Nasdaq Jumps 300 Points: Investor Sentiment Improves, Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Neutral' Zone

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index moved to the “Neutral” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 300 points during the session as investors continued to show optimism towards the AI theme and positioned into December’s “triple witching” session.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was among the standout Nasdaq 100 gainers, rising more than 7% after jumping 10% on Thursday following a blowout earnings report. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) also rallied 3.9%, on its strongest daily performance in over a month.

On the economic data front, U.S. existing home sales increased by 0.5% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 4.13 million for November.

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

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 183 points to 48,134.89 on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.88% to 6,834.50, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.31% to 23,307.62 during Friday's session.

What Is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 45.5, the index moved to the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 43.8.

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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