4 min read • June 1, 2022
Traders of stock indices such as the FTSE 100, Dow Jones, and DAX speculate on price changes. These well-known Indices are simply baskets of individual Shares that are frequently ranked by independent institutions such as big banks or specialist firms such as Standard & Poor's, FTSE Group, and Deutsche Börse. Some of the world's largest Indices markets have lengthy and illustrious histories.
It's also worth remembering that dramatic changes in the fortunes of a single large company that is part of a larger index can have disproportionately large effects on its performance.
The global indices markets are dominated by what are known as "benchmark Indices," which are stock indices that have a large impact on economies and are widely regarded as trustworthy indicators of a country's or region's economic health.
The following are some of the most heavily traded live Indices markets:
Which Indices can I trade?
With a Spread Betting or CFD trading account, you can trade all of our listed Indices. Three of our most popular Indices markets are listed here.
UK 100
The UK 100 has been in existence since 1984 and is one of our most popular Indices markets. The UK 100 index, which is managed by the FTSE Group, a division of the London Stock Exchange, comprises equities from some of the country's most popular companies. Companies from a wide range of industries are represented in the UK 100, including Barclays, Burberry, Experian, Glencore, HSBC, Just Eat, Royal Mail, Tesco, and Vodafone Group.
The UK 100 is less subject to variables that could affect individual stocks disproportionately because it is made up of such a varied range of companies across a variety of sectors.
A large economic data release or a quick shift in the value of the pound, for example, could have an instant negative impact on the prices of firms in the banking industry, whereas the same news could not have an impact on companies in the exporting sector.
When trading Indices like the UK 100, wild fluctuations and extreme volatility are less common than when trading individual shares.
Wall Street
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, which was established in 1885, is known as Wall Street. The Wall Street index, now managed by Standard & Poor's and Dow Jones, continues to be extremely popular among investors due to its extensive trading options.
Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Intel, McDonald's, Microsoft, Nike, Visa, and Walt Disney are among the renowned brands and firms that make up the Wall Street index.
The Wall Street index, like the UK 100, is less subject to high volatility that may otherwise effect price movements of a single share due to the large diversity of sectors represented.
Germany 40
Due to the historically high performance of companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Germany 40 is a popular European index among investors.
The Germany 40 was established in 1988 and is handled by Deutsche Börse. It is ranked by market capitalization.
Some of Germany's largest firms and brands of global relevance are included in the Germany 40 index, including Adidas, Allianz, BMW, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa, E.ON, SAP, Siemens, and Volkswagen Group.
The diversity of the stocks that make up the Germany 40, like with other major global indices, is plain to discern, which is good news for investors searching for medium to longer-term trading possibilities with less danger of excessive volatility.
Are Indices trading for me?
You can go long or short on price fluctuations in major indices from the United Kingdom, the United States, Asia, Australasia, and Europe.
You'll also benefit from market movement across a wide range of different types of companies, giving you more opportunities and maybe minimizing your risk of being exposed to high volatility.
We hope that this blog post will be beneficial for you. We will continue to create useful works in order to get inspired by everyone. We are sure that we will achieve splendid things altogether. Keep on following Finage for the best and more.
You can get your Real-Time and Historical Indices Data with Finage free Index Data API key.
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