Dow Rises Over 300 Points As Nvidia Surges: Investor Sentiment Improves, But Greed Index Remains In 'Fear' Zone

Market Sentiment - The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed improvement in overall market sentiment but remained in the "Fear" zone with a current reading of 39.6, up from 38.9 [1][6] - U.S. stocks settled higher, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 317 points to close at 44,873.28 [4] Company Performance - Nvidia Corp. shares increased over 5% following AMD's better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and Google's raised FY25 capital expenditure guidance [2] - The Walt Disney Co. reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results [2] Economic Data - The U.S. trade deficit rose to $98.4 billion in December, up from a revised $78.9 billion in the previous month, exceeding market estimates of $96.6 billion [3] - The ISM services PMI fell to 52.8 in January, down from a revised reading of 54 in December and below estimates of 54.3 [3] Sector Performance - Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed positively, with gains in real estate, information technology, and financial stocks, while communication services and consumer discretionary stocks closed lower [4]