The main index of the Vienna Stock Exchange gains ground at the beginning of the day this January 24

Opening session of hikes for the ATX, which begins on Tuesday, January 24, with slight increases of 0.29%, up to 3,329.37 points, after the start of the opening session. If we compare the value with previous days, the ATX chain three successive days of earnings.

In the last week, the ATX accumulates an increase of 1.05% although, on the contrary, in the last year it still maintains a decrease of 13.24%. The ATX it stands 0.38% below its maximum so far this year (3,341.94 points) and 5.37% above its minimum price for the current year (3,159.71 points).

What is a stock index and what is it for?

A stock index is an indicator that shows how the value of a certain set of assets changes, so it takes data from different companies or sectors of a part of the market.

These indicators are used mainly by the stock markets of various countries and each one of them can be integrated by firms with specific requirements such as having a similar market capitalization or belonging to the same type of industry; likewise, there are some indices that only take into account count a handful of shares to determine its value or others that consider hundreds of shares.

Stock indices serve as an indicator of confidence in the stock market, business confidence, the health of the national and global economy, and the performance of investments in stocks and shares of a company. Generally, if investors are not confident, stock prices tend to fall.

Likewise, they work to measure the performance of an asset manager and allow investors to have comparisons between 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 investigate how the shares of companies tended to rise or fall together in price, he created two indices: one that contained the 20 largest railway companies (as it was the most important industry at the time), as well as 12 shares of other types of businesses

Today there are various indices and they can be grouped based on their geography, sectors, company size or even asset class, for example, the US Nasdaq index is made up of the 100 largest companies largely related to technologies such as Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOG), Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia (NVDA), PayPal (PYPL), Comcast (CMCSA), Adobe ( ADBE).

How is it calculated and how to read them?

Each stock index has its own way of calculating, but the main component is the market capitalization of each company that is part of it. This is obtained by multiplying the daily value of the share in the corresponding stock market by the total number of shares that are in circulation in the market.

Companies listed on the stock market are required to present a balance sheet of their composition. Said report must be made public every three or six months, as appropriate.

Reading a stock index also implies taking into account its changes over time. New indices always start with a fixed value based on the prices of the securities on their start date, but not all follow this method. Therefore, it can lead to failures.

If one index sees an increase of 500 points in one day, while another only adds 20, it might appear that the former performed better. However, if the former started the day at 30,000 points and the other at 300, it can be seen that, in percentage terms, the gains for the latter were more important.

The main stock indices

Among the main stock indices in the United States is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, better known as Dow Jones, made up of 30 companies, the S&P 500, which includes 500 of the largest companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, the Nasdaq 100 appears, which links 100 of the largest non-financial firms.

On the other hand, the most important indices in Europe are the Eurostoxx 50, which covers the 50 most important companies in the euro area. Also, the DAX 30, the main German index that contains the most prominent companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; the FTSE 100 of the London Stock Exchange; the CAC 40 of the Paris Stock Exchange; and the IBEX 35, of the Spanish stock market.

On the Asian continent, the main stock indices are the Nikkei 225, made up of the 225 most important companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. There is also the SSE Composite Index, which is listed as the most representative of China, made up of the most relevant companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Similarly, it is worth mentioning the Hang Seung Index in Hong Kong and the KOSPI in South Korea.

Regarding the Latin American region, there is the IPC, which contains the 35 most consolidated firms on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV). At least a third of them are owned by tycoon Carlos Slim.

Another is the Bovespa, made up of the 50 most important companies on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange; the Merval from Argentina; the IPSA of Chile; the MSCI COLCAP of Colombia; the IBC of Caracas, made up of 6 companies from Venezuela.

Similarly, there are other types of global stock indices such as the MSCI Latin America, which includes the 137 most important companies in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Similarly, there is the MSCI World, which includes 1,600 companies from 23 developed countries; the MSCI Emerging Markets, made up of more than 800 companies from developing countries; and the S&P Global 100, made up of the 100 most powerful multinational firms on the entire planet.

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