ATX index on February 13: losing ground at the start of the session

Negative start to the day for the ATXwhich begins on Monday, February 13 with slight decreases in the 0.5%until the 3,426.74 dots, after the start of the opening session. Compared to previous days, the ATX chains two consecutive sessions in negative figures.

Regarding the last seven days, the ATX accumulates an increase of 2.15%; On the other hand, on a year-on-year basis, it still maintains a decline in the 11.79%. He ATX is located 1.38% below its maximum this year (3,474.86 points) and a 8.45% above its minimum price so far this year (3,159.71 points).

Stock market indices… What for?

a stock market index It is an indicator that measures the evolution of the price of a set of assets.it therefore collects data from different companies or sectors of a market fragment.

These indicators are mainly used by the stock markets of various countries and each of them can be integrated by companies with specific needs like having a similar market capitalization or being in the same industry, there are also some indices that only consider a handful of stocks to determine their value or others that consider hundreds of stocks.

Stock indices serve as indicator of confidence in stock market, business confidence, health of national and global economy and stock investment performance and shares of a company. Generally, if investors lack confidence, stock prices will tend to fall.

They are also working to measure the performance of an asset manager and allow investors to make comparisons between return 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 stock prices of companies tended to rise or fall together, so he created two indices: one containing the 20 largest railway companies (since this was the largest industry in the world). era), as well as 12 shares of other types of companies

Today in humanity there are various indices and they can be grouped by geographic location, industries, company size, or even asset typeFor example, the American Nasdaq index is made up of the 100 largest companies mainly related to technology 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 factor is the market capitalization of each company that incorporates it. This is obtained by multiplying the daily value of the bond on the corresponding stock market by the total number of shares that are on the market.

Listed companies are required to present a balance sheet of its composition. This report must be made public every three or six months, as the case may be.

Reading a stock market index also requires being attentive to its evolution over time. New indices always appear with a fixed value based on security prices on their start date, but not everyone follows this method. Therefore, it can be misleading.

If one index gains 500 points in one day, while another adds only 20, it may appear that the former has outperformed. But, if the first started the day at 30,000 points, and the other at 300, we can conclude that in percentage terms, the gains of the second were higher.

What are the main stock market indices?

Between the major US stock indices is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, better known as the Dow Jones, made up of 30 companies. Also S&P500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, the Nasdaq 100that connects 100 of the largest non-financial companies.

On the other hand, the most important indices of Europe are the Euro Stoxx 50, which covers the 50 largest companies in the euro area. On the other hand, the DAX 30, the main German index containing the most outstanding companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; there FTSE100 the London Stock Exchange; he CAC 40 of the Paris Stock Exchange; and the IBEX 35of the Spanish stock exchange.

In Asiathe main stock market indices are the Nikki 225, made up of the 225 largest companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. There is also the SSE composite index, is considered the strongest in China, consisting of the most important companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The same role played by the Hang Seung Index in Hong Kong and the KOSPI in South Korea.

As it concerns the Latin American regionyou have the IPCwhich contains the 35 most prestigious companies on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV). At least a third of them are part of the estate of tycoon Carlos Slim.

Another is the Bovespa, composed of the 50 most important companies of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange; he Merval from Argentina; he IPSA From Chile; he MSCI COLCAP Columbia; he IBC of Caracas, made up of 6 companies from Venezuela.

Finally, there are other types of global stock indices such as the MSCI Latin Americawhich includes the 137 most important companies from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Likewise, there is MSCI World, which brings together 1,600 companies from 23 developed countries; he MSCI Emerging Markets, made up of more than 800 companies from developing countries; and the S&P Global 100made up of the 100 most powerful multinational corporations on the entire planet.