An index is a standard technique of tracking the performance of a collection of assets. Indices generally assess the performance of a basket of securities designed to mirror a certain market segment. Because stock indices are formed of a basket of firms, they may be greatly influenced by a large shift in an individual company or a large move in a certain area of trade. These might be broad-based indexes that represent the whole market, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index or Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), or more specialised indices that monitor a specific industry or sector.
Because the index is essentially a number that represents the health of the market or economy, it cannot be directly purchased or traded. As a result, indices are traded using CFDs (Contract For Difference), ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds), index funds, index futures etc.
CFD trading is one of the most popular index trading choices for traders since it allows you to trade on the price fluctuations of an asset without having to acquire it. A Contract for Difference (CFD) is a contract entered into between a buyer and a seller for the purchase of a certain goods. The seller promises to pay the difference in price between the present price and the price at the conclusion of the contract to the buyer. This implies that when you trade CFDs on indices, you are attempting to benefit from an index's volatility rather than investing in the index itself. CFDs on spot indices are traded by investors on online trading platforms such as Pipstarkhub.
The S&P 500 (US500) stock market index was introduced by the American financial services company Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC in 1957. It is a leading indicator of US equities, and as one of the most often used benchmarks for the whole US stock market, it encompasses around 75% of the American equity market by size.
The ASX 200 (AUS200) index is a market capitalization weighted stock market index of equities listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, which is one of the world's top 15 exchange groups with a daily turnover of $4.685 billion. The index only covers stocks that are traded on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei 225 (JP225), commonly known as Nikkei, is a stock index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the world’s third largest stock exchange with a market capitalization of US$4.09 trillion.
The HIS (HK50), Hang Seng Index, is a market capitalization-weighted stock market index that has been used since 1969 to reflect the daily fluctuations of Asia's second (and the world's sixth) biggest stock exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx).
The FTSE 100 (UK100) stock index stands for Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, encompassing the 100 companies with the highest market capitalization listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The main NASDAQ index is the NASDAQ Composite, with its subset NASDAQ 100 (US100) that consists of 107 equity securities issued by the 107 most powerful non-financial companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.
The second oldest stock market index in the United States after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, shows the performance of 30 major American companies during a standard trading session in the stock market. It is calculated by the DJIA Divisor by dividing the total sum of all prices of all 30 stocks that it represents.
DAX (GER30) which stands for Deutscher Aktienindex, is the principal German stock market index representative of the 30 major companies that trade on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is considered to be a blue chip index in terms of quality and profitability.
The French benchmark stock market index CAC 40 (FRA40) stands for Cotation Assistée en Continu and reflects the top 40 values of the 100 highest market capitalization firm stocks listed on the French securities exchange Euronext Paris, Europe's second largest exchange.
Trading indices allows you to have exposure to an entire industry by initiating a single position. Indices' price fluctuations and volatility are influenced by a variety of variables, including political events, key events affecting firms in a certain industry, economic statistics , and significant changes in currency markets.
ViewmaxFX provides CFD trading for indices on some of the world's most active stocks, allowing you to buy and sell indices at their spot price to meet your needs and trading strategy. CFD trading on indices is a convenient and flexible way for investors to diversify their portfolios — and these assets continue to be a popular choice among traders today. Because of our better online trading circumstances, you may trade indices with leverage to fit your trading style and financial objectives.
