These are the most important data to pay attention to regarding the evolution of this asset
Opening of the day without major changes for the OMXS 30, which opens the day on Tuesday, December 13 with a variation of 0.16%, up to 2,112.23 points, after the opening. Compared to previous days, the OMXS 30 reverses the result of the previous session in which it experienced a decrease of 1.17%, without being able to establish a stable trend in recent days.
In reference to the profitability of the last week, the OMXS 30 registers an increase of 0.04%; although in interannual terms it still accumulates a decrease of 7.62%. The OMXS 30 is 14% below its maximum so far this year (2,456.17 points) and 17.71% above its minimum price for the current year (1,794.39 points).
What is a stock index and what is it for?
A stock index is an indicator that shows how the price of a certain set of assets changes, for which it collects data from various companies or sectors of a part of the market.
These indicators are used mainly by the stock markets of the countries and each one of them can be integrated by companies with specific requirements, such as having a similar market capitalization or belonging to the same type of industry. In addition, there are some indices that only take consider a handful of shares to determine its value or others that consider hundreds of shares.
Stock indices serve as an indicator of confidence in the stock market, business confidence, the health of the national and global economy, and the performance of investments in stocks and shares of a company. Generally, if investors do not have confidence, the costs of shares will tend to fall.
Likewise, they work to measure the performance of an asset manager and allow investors to make a comparison between profitability and risk; measure the opportunities of a financial asset or create portfolios.
These types of indicators began to be used at the end of the 19th century after the journalist Charles H. Dow. carefully observed how the shares of the companies tended to rise or fall together in price, so he created two indices: one that contained the 20 most important railway companies (since it was the most important industry at the time), as well as 12 shares of other types of businesses
Currently in our economy there are various indices and they can be put together based on their geography, sectors, company size or also the type of asset, for example, the US Nasdaq index is made up of the 100 largest companies mostly related to the technologies such as Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOG), Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia (NVDA), PayPal (PYPL), Comcast (CMCSA), Adobe (ADBE ).
How is a stock index measured?
Each stock index has its own way of being measured, but the main component is the market capitalization of each company that integrates it. This is obtained by multiplying the value of the title on the corresponding stock market by the total number of shares that are on the market.
Firms listed on the stock market are required to present a balance sheet of their composition. Said report must be made public every three or six months, as the case may be.
Reading a stock index also requires noticing its changes over time. Today’s indices always start with a fixed value based on the stock prices on their start date, but not all follow this method. Therefore, it can be misleading.
If one index boosts itself by 500 points in a day, while another only gets 20, it might appear that the former performed better. However, if the former started the day at 30,000 points and the other at 300, it can be deduced that, in percentage terms, the gains for the latter were more important.
These are the main stock indices
Among the main stock market indices in the American Union is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, better known as Dow Jones, which is made up of 30 companies. Similarly, the S&P 500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, we must mention the Nasdaq 100, which brings together 100 of the largest non-financial firms.
On the other hand, the most prominent indices in Europe are the Eurostoxx 50, which covers the 50 most important companies in the euro area. On the other hand, the DAX 30, the main German index that contains the strongest companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; the FTSE 100 of the London Stock Exchange; the CAC 40 of the Paris Stock Exchange; and the IBEX 35, of the Spanish stock market.
On the Asian continent, we have the Nikkei 225, made up of the 225 most important companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. There is also the SSE Composite Index, which is listed as the most solid in China, made up of the most relevant companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The same role played by the Hang Seung Index in Hong Kong and the KOSPI in South Korea.
Regarding the Latin American region, there is the IPC, which contains the 35 most consolidated firms on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV). At least a third of them are part of the patrimony of tycoon Carlos Slim.
Another is the Bovespa, made up of the 50 most important companies on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange; the Merval from Argentina; the Chilean IPSA; the MSCI COLCAP of Colombia; the IBC of Caracas, made up of 6 companies from Venezuela.
Likewise, there are other types of global stock indices such as the MSCI Latin America, which includes the 137 most important companies in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
Similarly, there is the MSCI World, which includes 1,600 companies from 23 developed countries; the MSCI Emerging Markets, made up of more than 800 companies from developing countries; and the S&P Global 100, made up of the 100 most powerful multinational firms on the entire planet.