The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an increase in overall market sentiment, while the index moved to the “Fear” zone on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks settled higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 1,500 points during the session after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Oil tumbled on bets the result will push Washington toward an end to the Iran war.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) led the blue-chip index with a 6.7% jump, as investors bet a Democratic Congress will cool the AI spending race among cloud giants.
Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) jumped around 5% on Wednesday as the company reported mixed third-quarter 2026 results. Shares of McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) gained around 6.5% after the company reported upbeat third-quarter earnings.
On the economic data front, the ISM services PMI eased to 54.5 in October from 54.9, below the 54.8 forecast, while the prices-paid gauge cooled to 73 from 74. ADP private payrolls rose by 86,000, above the 69,000 forecast.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with consumer discretionary, financial and real estate stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.
The Dow Jones closed higher by around 1,569 points to 53,356.12 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 1.58% to 7,688.62, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.44% at 25,736.51 during Wednesday’s session.
Investors are awaiting earnings results from Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE:CAH), US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) and Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) today.
At a current reading of 27, the index moved to the “Fear” zone on Wednesday, versus a prior reading of 24.
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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