S&P 500 Rallies 2% On Nvidia, Tesla Gains — But Market Mood Stuck In 'Fear'

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

U.S. stocks settled higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones index jumping more than 1% during the session to mark the first close above the 40,000 level since April 15.

Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) all settled higher on Thursday.

Bristol Myers Squibb & Co (NYSE:BMY) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) reported mixed first-quarter results and issued FY25 EPS guidance below estimates.

Meanwhile, signs of a potential thaw in the U.S.-China trade conflict emerged, with the White House reportedly considering exceptions for certain Chinese auto parts.

On the economic data front, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index declined to -0.03 in March compared to a reading of +0.24 in February. U.S. initial jobless claims climbed by 6,000 from the previous week to 222,000 during the third week of April. U.S. durable goods orders gained by 9.2% month-over-month to $315.7 billion in March.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks recording biggest gains on Thursday. However, consumer staples stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 487 points to 40,093.40 on Thursday. The S&P 500 jumped 2.03% to 5,484.77, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.74% at 17,166.04 during Thursday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) and Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) today.

At a current reading of 30.9, the index remained in the “Fear” zone on Thursday, versus a prior reading of 28.4.

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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