BSE Sensex 30 opened with an upward trend on February 16

Beginning of raise day for the BSE Sensex 30which begins the day of Thursday February 16 with the ascents of the 0.61%until the 61,647.24 points, after opening. If we compare the figure with the previous days, the BSE Sensex 30 accumulate three consecutive ascent sessions.

In the past seven days, the BSE Sensex 30 recorded an increase of 1.38%so that on a year-over-year basis, it still maintains a rise of 6.01%. and one 3.9% above its minimum price so far this year (59,330.90 points).

What is a stock index and what is it used for?

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

These indicators are mainly used by the stock markets of various 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. If investors are not confident, stock prices 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. 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 join a union depending on their location, their sectors, the size of the companies 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 to read an index?

Each stock index has its own calculation method, but the main factor is the market capitalization of each company that incorporates it. This is obtained by multiplying the value of the share 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 submitted every three or six months, as the case may be.

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

If one index increases by 500 points in one day, while another adds only 20, it may seem that the first has outperformed. However, if the first started the day at 30,000 points and the other at 300, we see 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, of which 30 companies are part. Likewise, the S&P500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, 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 most important companies of 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 continentwe have 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 most representative of China, consisting of the most important companies of 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 influential companies on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV). At least a third of them belong to the capital 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.

Similarly, 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.