The Indian Nifty 50 market closed lower on February 13

bad day for Crafty 50which ended the day on Monday February 13 with slight decreases in the 0.48%until the 17,770.90 points. He Crafty 50 scored the most 17,880.70 points and a minimum of 17,719.75 points. The trading range for the Crafty 50 between its highest point and its lowest point (maximum-minimum) during this day, it was at the 0.9%.

In the past seven days, the Crafty 50 gets a promotion from 0.04%so that a year ago it still maintains an increase of 2.92%. He Crafty 50 is located at 2.53% below its maximum this year (18,232.55 points) and a 0.95% above its minimum valuation so far this year (17,604.35 points).

Stock market indices… What for?

a stock market index is an indicator that shows how the value of a given set of assets is changingfor which it takes data from different companies or sectors of a part of the market.

These indicators are mainly used by the exchanges of the countries and each of them can be integrated by firms with specific characteristics like having a similar market capitalization or belonging to the same type of industry, moreover, there are 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 compare 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. To carefully study how company stocks tended to rise or fall together, he created two indices: one that contained the 20 largest railway companies (as it was the largest industry at the time) , as well as 12 shares of other types of companies

Today in humanity there are various indices and They can be grouped according to their geographical location, their sectors, the size of the company or the type of assetFor example, the U.S. Nasdaq index is made up of the 100 largest companies with broad technology connections 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 incorporates it. This is obtained by multiplying the value of the security 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 published every three or six months, as the case may be.

Reading a stock market index also means analyzing its evolution over time. New indices always open at a fixed value based on stock prices on their start date, but not everyone follows this method. It can therefore be a source of misunderstanding.

If one index rises 500 points in one day, while another only gains 20, it may seem that the former has performed better. However, if the first started the day at 30,000 points and the other at 300, we can assume that in percentage terms the gains for the second were greater.

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. Likewise, the S&P500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, it should be mentioned the Nasdaq 100which includes 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 strongest 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 the asian continentthe main stock market indices are the Nikki 225, made up of the 225 largest companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Also SSE composite index, which can be considered the strongest in China, consisting of the most relevant companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Also, it is worth mentioning 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 consolidated 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.