Nasdaq Surges Over 1% as Market Sentiment Improves — CNN Fear & Greed Index Climbs to 43, But ‘Fear’ Still Dominates

The CNN Money Fear and Greed Index showed further improvement in overall market sentiment on Monday, although it remained in the "Fear" zone. U.S. stocks settled higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 1% during the session even as the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.3%. President Donald Trump said Friday of the Iran war that it is “going to be over soon… probably right after the midterms." Major indices closed on a mixed note last week, with the Dow falling around 1.3% and the S&P slipping 0.3%. However, the Nasdaq gained 0.6% for the week. On the economic data front, the Institute for Supply Management’s services PMI came in at 54.9 for September, just under the 55.0 consensus and down from 55.4 in August, marking a 27th straight month of expansion. Under the hood, the Prices index rose 1.4 points to 74.0, its highest level since July 2022. PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) soared over 33% after Schneider Electric agreed to buy the software maker in an all-cash deal valued at roughly $22.6 billion. Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with communication services, energy and materials stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday. However, real estate stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower. The Dow Jones closed higher by around 91 points to 51,267.90 on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.66% to 7,773.95, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.05% at 27,477.31 during Monday’s session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ), Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:LW) and RPM International Inc (NYSE:RPM) today. At a current reading of 43, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Monday, versus a prior reading of 40. 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 greed. Photo via Shutterstock