The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed an improvement in the overall market sentiment, but the index remained in the "Fear" zone on Monday.

U.S. stocks settled higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones index surging more than 1% during the session after losing over 1,200 points last week.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares jumped 3.5% on Monday after the AI darling fell around 14% last week. Relay Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLAY) shares jumped 52% on Monday after the company reported interim data for its breast cancer treatment.

On the economic data front, U.S. wholesale inventories increased by 0.2% month-over-month to $903.5 billion in July compared to a preliminary reading of a 0.3% rise, and versus a revised flat reading a month ago.

All sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with industrials, information technology and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday.

The Dow Jones closed higher by around 484 points to 40,829.59 on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 1.16% to 5,471.05, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.16% at 16,884.60 during Monday's session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO), GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) and Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 42.1, the index remained in the "Fear" zone on Monday, versus a prior reading of 39.3.

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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