The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 200 points during the session.

Reports circulated that President Donald Trump may be preparing to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from his post. The rumors sparked fears over the Fed’s independence, triggering a broad flight to gold and a sell-off in the U.S. dollar.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ( GS ) reported second-quarter results that beat analyst expectations, boosted by robust gains in its global banking and trading divisions. Bank of America Corp ( BAC ) posted better-than-expected second-quarter financial earnings.

On the economic data front, the Producer Price Index was flat in June, down from a 0.3% gain in May and below the 0.2% consensus forecast. On a year-over-year basis, producer prices rose 2.3%, the slowest pace since September 2024 and softer than the 2.5% economists had expected.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with financial, real estate and health care stocks recording the biggest gains on Wednesday. However, energy and communication services stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by 231 points to 44,254.78 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.32% to 6,263.70, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.25% to 20,730.49 during Wednesday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from PepsiCo Inc. ( PEP ) , GE Aerospace and Netflix, Inc. ( NFLX ) today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 73.9, the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Wednesday, versus a prior reading of 73.7.

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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