Stock markets are becoming one of the favourite investment destinations among investors globally. People are investing in stocks or trading to earn a few bucks making this another source of income. However, people investing in real estate, and gold jewellery also have ample investment in equity stocks that are usually traded on different stock exchanges.
Keeping an eye on your home country's stock market would be not enough to earn maximum benefit from your portfolio. Owing to globalization, all the countries and multinational companies operating in different nations are affected by the political decisions taken by the different state governments or top management of the listed companies.
All the countries have dedicated stock markets and these stock exchanges have their top indices representing the top listed companies' share prices. From the US to the UK, Germany, Japan and India all have their indices consisting of different companies.
Global Market Indices
Global market indices consist of all the world market indices of top countries may be around 40 to 50. Many countries have different stock exchanges, and each one of them has its market index to represent the accumulated price of top companies.
Mainly the world market index includes the stock exchanges from different continents including the United States, Europe, Asia and other zones where the stock market is mature enough for normal trading. However, if you are an Indian you should keep an eye on US, Europe and Asian markets that cover most of the market capitalization of all listed companies.
What are the Major World Market Index?
Although, there are many countries where the stock market is active and people global market indices do trading. Discussing all the stock markets is not possible but not useful too. Here you just need to know the global market indices of the top big economies that are either developed or developing. These world market indexes are closely watched by most people globally.
Here we have categorized and included the American, European and Asian market indices where a huge volume of trade is executed every day and these markets are highly influenced by the economic activities happening around the world.
World Indices List
The US and a few other developed countries have more than one indices closely watched otherwise most of the nations have one main index that shows the weighted average price of top listed companies of that country. Here is the list of global market indices.
US Markets:
DOW JONES: Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones is the stock market index of the top 30 companies listed in the US. DJIA is one of the most-watched stock indexes in the world containing multinational giants like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Walmart, Nike and other companies having huge turnover or market capitalization.
The DJIA index is traded on the New York stock exchange and maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The approx market capitalization of DJIA is around US$10 trillion. Though, the components of the DJIA have been changed around 57 times since it is the establishment.
Also read: technical Indicators
S&P 500: Standard and Poor's 500 is the stock market index that consists top 500 companies listed on the stock exchange of the united estates. S&P 500 is the free-float weighted/capitalization-weighted index. The S&P 500 is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a joint venture majority-owned by S&P Global, while its mechanisms are managed by a committee.
Nine out of 500 companies in the S&P 500 index account for around 28% of the total market capitalization. This global stock market index comprises the share price of all types of companies including both class A & C shares. Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, UnitedHealth Group, Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon Mobil, and Johnson & Johnson are the top companies included in S&P 500.
NASDAQ: Nasdaq is an electronic stock exchange where market traders or investors can buy and sell the listed stocks through an automatic computer network. There are around 3300 companies are traded on the Nasdaq with a market capitalization of around $19 trillion.
Nasdaq stock exchange consists of wide sector companies including consumer durables, capital goods, energy, finance, healthcare, nondurables, transportation, technology and public utilities. However, Nasdaq is well-known for high-tech stocks.
European Markets:
FTSE: Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also known as FTSE 100 Index is a share of all top market capitalization companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. FTSE is managed by FTSE Group, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.
The market capitalization of FTSE is around £2.003 trillion and the stocks having the higher market caps account for more weight in the FTSE 100 making a bigger effect on the index's price movements. Royal Dutch Shell, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and Barclays are the top companies in the FTSE 100. It represents a well-diversified index from different sectors.
CAC: CAC 40 is the benchmark index of the top 40 companies listed on the stock exchange in France. It is the benchmark equity index of the biggest 40 companies listed in France that are selected by market capitalization, trading activity, size of the balance sheet, and liquidity.
Just like other top world indices CAC 40 also includes only companies having the highest turnover, market capitalization, share turnover and other criteria. Loreal, Sanofi, Airbus, Michelin, Renault, Alstom, and Schneider Electric are the top companies in CAC 40.
Asian Markets:
NIFTY: Nifty 50 is the weighted average of the 50 largest Indian companies listed on the national stock exchange in New Delhi, India. This index is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Limited having a marketing and licensing agreement with Standard & Poor's for co-branding equity indices until 2013.
Nifty 50 consists of the top 50 companies from 13 different sectors of the Indian Economy offering well-diversified investment options for investors looking to invest in the Indian stock market. Launched on 22 April 1996, the Nifty 50 is the world's most actively traded contract. WFE, IOM and FIA surveys endorse NSE as the leader in actively trading volume.
SENSEX: Just like Nifty, Sensex is one the most watched index of the Indian stock market. It is the weighted average price of the top 30 companies listed on the BSE, Bombay Stock Exchange in India. Sensex, which stands for Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, is one of the oldest stock market indexes in India but is closely watched by traders as well as investors dealing in the stock market.
The Sensex is float-adjusted and market capitalization-weighted of 30 companies that are reviewed semiannually each year in June and December. The Sensex is calculated in Indian currency rupees (INR) and is a highly active stock market index in the world.
NIKKEI: Nikkei 225 is the Nikkei Stock Average of the stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan. It is a price-weighted index composed of 225 top blue-chip companies of Japan traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nikkei comprises the top companies from 36 industries. Sony Corporation, Honda Motor Company, Nissan Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation, and Panasonic Corporation are the few well-known companies included in Nikkei.
Shanghai Composite: Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index is a stock market composite of A-shares and B-shares that are listed and traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), China. Shanghai Composite is the largest stock exchange in mainland China and ranks fourth in the world in terms of total market cap for equity exchanges, after NYSE, Nasdaq, and Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange. Shanghai Composite mostly consists of formerly state-run companies like major commercial banks and insurance companies having the highest market capitalization.
Hang Seng: Hang Seng Index is the free-float-adjusted market-capitalization-weighted stock-market index in Hong Kong. Hang Seng consists of the 60 largest companies and is the main indicator of Hong Kong showing market’s overall performance. However, Hong Kong Exchange has the stocks of around 2,500 companies listed and traded there.
KOSPI: Korea Composite Stock Price Index is the index of all common stocks traded on the stock exchange in Korea on the Korean exchange. Introduced in 1983, KOSPI is calculated based on market capitalization and the daily volume is hundreds of millions of shares. KOSPI comprises the 200 largest publicly-traded common stocks traded in Korea that account for roughly around 70% of the market value of the overall Korean Stock Exchange.
Taiwan Weighted: It is the weighted index of all the stocks traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). More than 700 listed companies from different industries are included in the TSEC Weighted Index. Taiwan stock exchange is one of the most advanced and matured stock markets in the world with notable companies listed on this stock exchange.
Apart from these top major world indices, the Straits Times Index of Singapore, SET Composite of Thailand and Jakarta Composite of Indonesia are the other leading global market indices that are closely watched by traders & investors across the world.
Global Indices Live
To check the global indices live visit any well-known stock market news website or broker showing the real-time data of the world market index. Apart from cash market trading all these stock exchanges also have global indices futures trading in stocks as well as in the leading indices. You can check the world market index continent-wise with country-wise different indices.
Summing-up
These are the main world market index representing the world's leading economies. However, there are many countries where the stock market is not mature enough to invest due to a lack of transparent trading facilities and low participation of investors which leads to less volume and no liquidity in the market. There are many companies that the operating globally and are listed on multiple stock exchanges.
Investing in the world market index is not possible from anywhere, as all countries have their own rules & regulations to invest in any stock or index. However, people looking to invest in any company need to follow the rules formed by the regulated authorities of that country. Moneysukh is also providing the data with world market index live feeds, where you can closely watch the price of each stock and plan your trading strategy to invest in the stock market.
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