February 17 Nikkei Awards

Bad day for him Nikkeiwhich ended on Friday February 17 with falls from the 0.7%until the 27,501.48 points. He Nikkei marked the maximum number of 27,608.59 points and a minimum volume of 27,466.61 points. The trading range for the Nikkei between its highest point and its lowest point (maximum-minimum) during this day, it was at the 0.51%.

Referring to last week’s profitability, the Nikkei sees a decrease in 0.61%so that last year there is still a decrease of 0.28%. He Nikkei is located at 0.7% below its maximum this year (27,696.44 points) and a 6.94% above its minimum valuation so far this year (25,716.86 points).

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

a stock market index It is an indicator that shows how the price of a set of assets is changingit therefore takes data from different companies or sectors of a market fragment.

These indicators are mainly used by stock exchanges in various countries and each of them can be integrated by companies with certain characteristics like having a similar market capitalization or belonging to the same type of company, 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. 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 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 analyze how company stock prices tended to rise or fall together, he created two indexes: one that contained the 20 largest railway companies (as it was the most important industry in the era), as well as 12 shares of other types of companies

Today there are various indices and They can join a union depending on their geographical location, their sectors, the size of the company or the type of assetFor 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 to read an index?

Each stock index has its own calculation method, but the main component is the market capitalization of each company that incorporates it. This is obtained by multiplying the daily value of the share on the corresponding stock market by the total number of shares that are in the hands of the investors.

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

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

If one index sees an increase of 500 points in one day, while another only gets 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, it can be assumed that in percentage terms the gains for the second were higher.

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, we must not forget 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. There is also the SSE composite index, which is listed as the strongest in China, consisting 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.

As it concerns the Latin American regionyou have the IPCwhich contains the 35 Most Powerful 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.

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.