The Bullish Bears break down a list of the most popular stock market indexes. Stock indexes, aka indices, measure specific sections of the stock market. They fall under the umbrella of stock exchanges. Investors and traders cannot buy or sell the major exchanges but can trade the indexes on the exchanges.
Each index is made up of sectors. Under those sectors are industries and sub-industries, which include the most common stock symbols and companies that investors and traders buy and sell.
List of Most Popular Stock Market Indexes (Indices)
- S&P 500 (SPX): Measures 500 large-caps in U.S. stock market
- Dow Jones 30 (DJI): Compares 30 large-cap U.S. stocks
- Nasdaq 100 (NDX): Index made up of 103 largest non-financial companies
- Russell 2000 (RUT): Small-cap index of 2000 stocks
- FTSE 100/Footsie (FTSE): 100 large-cap companies on London Stock Exchange
- Dax 30 (DAX): 30 blue chip German stocks on Frankfurt Exchange
- Nikkei 225 (NKY): 225 stocks on the Tokyo Stock exchange
- Hang Seng Index (HSI): Weighted index of Hong Kong’s largest companies
- Nifty 50 (NIFTY): Weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies
Chart by TradingView
The indices are commonly used to track the overall markets and are also very popular for trading with futures and ETFs.
Click any links to get an overview of each index and see the stock symbols and companies included.
S&P 500 Index
The S&P 500 is a stock index that measures the 500 largest stocks on major exchanges in the United States. The S&P 500 Index consists of U.S. stocks listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. The Index is weighted by the total market value of each company’s outstanding shares. Therefore, the S&P 500 represents the stock market more than its competitors — such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Russell 2K Index.
In case you didn’t know, the S&P 500 is one of the world’s most widely used stock indexes. It’s a market capitalization-weighted index, meaning that companies with larger market capitalizations have greater weighting in how they affect the Index’s overall performance than other companies with smaller market caps. In other words, larger companies have more influence over the market’s overall direction than smaller ones. Because of this, investors who want exposure to large-cap stocks (like Apple or Microsoft) must consider investing in an ETF like VOO or IVV instead of just buying an individual stock for their portfolio.
The $SPY/$ES are the most common ways to track the markets. It’s important to have a chart of either the SPY or SPY futures when trading stocks. The reason is that the majority of stocks run with the overall market.
Shorting Stock Market Indexes
When the $SPY is up, then typically, stocks are up. The exception might be with penny stocks or pump-and-dump sectors like bitcoin or pot stocks. Sometimes, these sectors will pump up when the market is down. However, even most penny stocks pump up when the market is bullish. Penny stocks are very difficult to trade when the market is bearish unless you are into shorting.
Going long is when traders are bullish on the markets overall. This is the most common trading strategy. Shorting is another popular strategy to implement when the market is bearish. So, when the SP500 is bearish, shorting bearish stocks or reversal patterns is a very lucrative trading strategy. Going long requires you to buy low and sell high for profit. Shorting requires you to sell high and buy low to cover and keep the difference. Shorting the market requires you to have a specialized broker that has share locate availability.
Options are another great way to trade the major indexes up or down. You can sell ETFs of the major indexes or trade contracts of the large-cap companies that make up the indexes. Options and shorting both give you alternatives to trading. They are very popular ways to capitalize on trading the major indices worldwide.
Futures Indexes
Futures trading is another popular way to trade the companies on our stock indexes list. They allow you to trade popular stock indices without putting out total capital or purchase options contracts.
Futures contracts are a type of financial contract. They’re traded on an exchange and standardized, meaning that each contract is for the same amount and quality of the underlying product. Futures contracts are used primarily to hedge against price fluctuations in commodities, currencies,s or other financial instruments.
Futures trading can be a great way to make money. The potential for profit and loss can be greater than it is with stocks, but there are also many more pitfalls that you need to look out for. If you’re interested in day trading futures, here are some basic things about this type of investment.
Futures contacts allow you to purchase fractional contracts of major companies on our stock indices list above. Contracts trade in ticks. Each tick, depending on the stock index, trades around 0.25 ticks. With the $SPY, four ticks make up 1 point. Each point equals $1 or 1 point.
Best Brokers for Shorting Stocks
1. TD Ameritrade
2. Interactive Brokers
3. E*Trade
New York Stock Exchange
Many stocks on our stock indexes list trade on the NYSE or New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE is the leader in stock listings around the globe. Again, you’ll find many companies in this major exchange on our stock indices lists above.
The New York Stock Exchange has been operating for over 225 years. They have listings in many stock sectors, such as healthcare, technology, energy, and financials.
Some options to get listings on the NYSE are Direct Floor Listings, IPOs, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, and transfers.
Stock Market Index IPO's
The most common way to get listed on the New York Stock Exchange is by IPO or initial public offering. A company becomes an IPO when they go public to raise money to grow the company.
Direct floor listings are another popular way to get listed on the NYSE. This is different than IPOs. Companies are allowed to list their shares directly on the NYSE. A SPAC is used to raise capital through an IPO and then use this money to run a business.
News Affects Markets
It’s important to remember that all markets work differently. However, news often affects markets around the world. Take the Coronavirus (COVID-10) for example. The virus epidemic started in China and affected the Hang Seng Index ($HSI), but it didn’t take very long to begin affecting the worldwide markets.
News affects markets. The Coronavirus affected jobs, lives, trade, and our global economic system. Global markets don’t react well to uncertainty, especially concerning something that can affect work and business worldwide, as the COVID-19 virus did.
If people can’t go to work, are dying, and loss of production happens, then all of this news will affect stock pricing. It doesn’t take long for hysteria to affect the markets, just like it was done with the Coronavirus in a few short weeks in February 2020. We had two huge selling days where the Dow Jones lost almost 2000 points, a huge drop. Again, markets don’t like uncertainty.
This huge drop in the Dow happened despite the virus not being widespread in the U.S. yet. This is why staying on top of the news and watching economic events worldwide is always very important.
Finding a Stock Market Indexes List
- Do a Google search
- Type in stock market index or stock market indices
- Look at the top of the search results
- Locate all of the different major indexes
- Click on the index and find the corresponding list
The best way to track the markets and the stocks on these indices is by looking at their stock charts. You can see a few sample charts above using a tool called TradingView.
When charting the major markets, you can sort by different time frames. There are monthly, weekly, daily, 1 hr, 5 min, and 1-minute chart time frames. These are the most popular time frames. However, there are several others as well.
Go to a tool like TradingView, StockCharts.com, or the broker of your choice and type the ticker symbol. Then, you’ll see the corresponding market chart you’re looking to track and trade.
Research & Scanners
Researching companies before investing or trading them is always a good idea. A helpful tool like Benzinga is a great way to get breaking news or research stocks.
Benzinga also has a good scanner filter built in as well. Their website is filled with helpful stock research tools, scanners, analyst ratings, and economic calendars, and they even have a great feature called Squawk, which reads out audio of breaking news, which saves you the time of having to look at a scanner. You can pull the chart up immediately, giving you a better chance of getting a quicker entry.
Stock scanners are a great way to scan and filter the markets to see what’s currently running in the hottest indexes. You can filter screeners by momentum plays, swing trades, options, and long-term plays.
They are the lifeblood of a trader. They are getting the best entry matters, as traders and scanners allow you to enter a trade before the herd jumps in. We list our favorite stock scanners under our stock scanners list page.
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Finding the Right Broker
Before you start trading the markets, finding the right trading broker is important. You’ll be fine trading the markets like the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow with major companies like T.D. Ameritrade, E-Trade, Webull, and Fidelity. Looking at more specialized brokers is important when entering specific trading niches. If you’re going to be a day trader and trade low-float penny stocks, you’ll want to look at brokers such as SpeedTrader, LightSpeed, CMEG, or Interactive Brokers. A broker like Tradovate and NinjaTrader will be great if you trade the futures markets. We provide a list of popular trading companies under our trading companies lists page.
The first step to day trading futures is to open a brokerage account. This can be done online and usually takes less than five minutes, so it’s a manageable investment in time. Once you’ve chosen a broker, ensure they offer low trading costs and minimums (the amount required to open an account). You want as little friction between sending money into the market and getting it back out again! Also, ensure that FINRA or another reputable organization regulates the broker, ensuring they are safe and trustworthy.
Invest in Yourself
Okay, you’re ready to get started. Before trading any stock index, you must understand some basic market principles and how they work. Start with small amounts of money until you feel comfortable with the process. Trade with a simulator account first so that it will only cost an hour or so of your time if things go wrong. This will allow you to learn about the different markets and see what works for your personality type before putting real money on the line – which brings me to my next point.
It might seem obvious, but don’t invest without learning how! The best way is by taking courses or reading books written by experts in their respective fields.
Final Thoughts: Stock Market Indexes
Before you start trading the markets, finding the right trading broker is important. You’ll be fine trading the markets like the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow with major companies like TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, Webull, and Fidelity.
Looking at more specialized brokers is important when entering specific trading niches. If you’re going to be a day trader and trade low-float penny stocks, I’ll want to look at brokers such as SpeedTrader, LightSpeed, CMEG, or Interactive Brokers.
A broker like Tradovate and NinjaTrader will be great if you trade the futures markets. We provide a list of popular trading companies under our trading companies lists page.
Frequently Asked Questions
- S&P 500: measures 500 large-caps in U.S. stock market
- Dow Jones 30: measures the top 30 U.S. stocks large-cap stocks
- Nasdaq 100: measures the top 100 largest non-financial companies
A stock allows investors partial ownership in a company. An index gives investors the option of investing in a basket of companies.
An index cannot be traded or invested in directly. Many different products, such as ETFs, mutual funds, and derivatives, are available to investors.
- GSPC - S&P 500
- DJI - Dow Jones Industrial Average
- IXIC - NASDAQ Composite
- NYSE - COMPOSITE (DJ)
The most widely cited US stock market index is the S&P 500, which measures 500 large-cap stocks.
