The main index of the Vienna Stock Exchange gains ground as trading begins on February 16

Positive opening of the day for ATXwhich opens the session on Thursday, February 16 with slight increases in 0.68%until the 3,491.50 points, after opening. If we compare the figure with the previous days, the ATX accumulate three successive sessions in green.

Compared to the last seven days, the ATX recorded an increase of 0.48%; even if for a year it still maintains a drop in 4.82%. and one 10.5% above its minimum valuation for the current year (3,159.71 points).

Stock market indices… What for?

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

These indicators are mainly used by the exchanges of the countries and each of them can be integrated by signatures with specific characteristics like having a similar market capitalization or belonging to the same type of industry, furthermore, some indices 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 the 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 see carefully how company stocks tended to rise or fall together in price, he therefore created two indices: one that contained the 20 largest railroad companies (since that was the largest industry at the time), as well as 12 shares of other types of companies

There are currently various indices and They can be grouped according to their 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 is a stock index measured?

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 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 made public every three or six months, as the case may be.

Reading a stock market index also requires taking into account its variations 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 adds 500 points in one day, while another only adds 20, it may appear that the former has outperformed. However, if the first started the day at 30,000 points and the other at 300, you can see that in percentage terms the gains for the second were considerable.

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. Also S&P500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, we must not forget 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 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 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 preeminent 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 Latin Americayou have the IPCwhich contains the 35 most influential 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.

In addition, 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.