All you need to know about the US market summary from Thndr
Market Indices
Indices are one of the biggest indicators of how well or how poor a market has performed during any past period of time. There are several indices that have certain composites based on a methodology.
Some indices are based on the company size, while other indices are constructed based on the price of the stocks. In all cases, both give a very good indication of market performance.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI Index) is a price-weighted index, calculated by adding the stock price of 30 of the largest companies and dividing the sum by a divisor that changes based on stock splits or if a company is added/removed.
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Composite Index includes all stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and is calculated based on market cap. The index includes almost all 3,300+ companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The index’s value is calculated by adding the market cap of the companies based on their stocks’ current price and then dividing the sum by a constant index divisor.
Industry weights in the index are approximately as follows:
-Technology – 50%
-Consumer services – 16%
-Consumer goods – 9%
-Health care – 8%
-Financials – 7.5%
-Industrials – 5.5%
-Oil & gas – 1%
-Other – 3%
S&P 500
The S&P 500 Index includes 500 of the largest corporations by market cap listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ. The S&P 500 is calculated by adding the weighted market cap of all 500 companies listed in the index and dividing the sum by a divisor. The index, like other indices, helps provide a quick snapshot of the market and the economy.
Market Summary
Next to the name of each company is a stock ticker. A ticker is a short group of letters that are used to identify stocks in a specific market/exchange, making it easier to follow and identify the stock.
The performance of the index is measured in different time periods, such as daily, month-to-date, and year-to-date (YTD). Each time frame provides a reference of how the index performed in the day, month, and year respectively. For example, if we say that an index recorded an 8% increase month-to-date, and the current date is September 21, this means that from September 1 until September 21, the index has increased by 8%. As for YTD, if we say that an index recorded an 8% increase YTD, and the current date is September 21, this means that from January 1 until September 21, the index increased by 8%.
The market summary provides you with the biggest gainers/losers in the market during the day i.e. which stocks saw the largest increase/decrease in their price at the end of the trading session.
The market summary also provides a view of the biggest gainers/losers in the ETF world. But what is an ETF? An ETF is a security that groups several stocks, commodities, indices, bonds, etc., puts them in one security, and can be traded much like equities. They help reduce risk by diversifying investments in the form of one single traded security.
The market summary also informs readers of companies’ upcoming earnings announcements.
Explainer: Market Summary
