Approximately 53,555 companies are now traded publicly throughout the world as of April 2025, down slightly from 53,598 a year prior. The U.S. still has the largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, but many of the largest exchanges now reside in Asia, which continues to grow in influence on the world stage. Below is an overview of some of the largest exchanges in the world.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
The Russell 2000 Index is a small-cap U.S. stock market index that makes up the smallest 2,000 stocks in the Russell Index. It was started by the Frank Russell Company.
The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index that includes almost all stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Weighted towards companies in information technology.
The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
Dow futures are financial futures which allow an investor to hedge with or speculate on the future value of various components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average market index. The futures instruments are derived from the Dow Jones Industrial Average as E-mini Dow futures. It was first calculated in May of 1896...
S&P 500 Futures are financial futures which allow an investor to hedge with or speculate on the future value of various components of the S&P 500 Index market index. S&P 500 futures contracts were first introduced by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 1982. The CME added the e-mini option in 1997...
NASDAQ futures are financial futures which launched on June 21, 1999. It is the financial contract futures that allow an investor to hedge with or speculate on the future value of various components of the NASDAQ market index. NASDAQ futures are financial futures which launched on June 21, 1999...
VIX is the ticker symbol and popular name for the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index, a popular measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) was introduced by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) in 1993...
The DAX is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Prices are taken from the Xetra trading venue. According to Deutsche Börse, the operator of Xetra, DAX measures the performance of the Prime Standard's 40 largest German companies in terms of order book volume and market capitalization. The DAX Index was founded on July 1, 1988.
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie", is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on the London Stock Exchange. History. edit. The index started on 3 January 1984, having been constructed by the London Stock Exchange to better reflect market activity.
The CAC 40 is a benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant stocks among the 100 largest market caps on the Euronext Paris. It is a price return index. The CAC 40, a French stock market index, was officially launched on December 31, 1987, with a base value of 1,000 points, according to TIOmarkets.
The IBEX 35 is the benchmark stock market index of the Bolsa de Madrid, Spain's principal stock exchange. Initiated in 1992, the index is administered and calculated by Sociedad de Bolsas, a subsidiary of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, the company which runs Spain's securities markets. Founded on January 14, 1992. It serves as the main benchmark for the Spanish stock market and is administered by BME.
The Nikkei 225, or the Nikkei Stock Average, more commonly called the Nikkei or the Nikkei index, is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is a price-weighted index, operating in the Japanese Yen, and its components are reviewed twice a year. The Nikkei 225 measures the performance of 225 highly capitalised and liquid publicly owned companies in Japan from a wide array of industry sectors. The Nikkei 225 began to be calculated on 7 Sept. 1950.
The SSE Composite Index also known as SSE Index is a stock market index of all stocks that are traded at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. There are also SSE 180, SSE 50 and SSE Mega-Cap Indexes for top 180, 50 and 20 companies respectively, and the CSI 300 Index, which includes shares traded at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Published on July 15, 1991, is the first index to reflect the performance of the whole Shanghai securities market.
The Hang Seng Index is a market-capitalisation-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong adjusted for free float. It tracks and records daily changes in the largest stock listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and serves as the primary indicator of overall market performance in Hong Kong. These 82 constituent companies represent about 58% of the capitalisation of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The HSI was officially launched on November 24, 1969.
The BSE SENSEX is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The 30 constituent companies which are some of the largest and most actively traded stocks, are representative of various industrial sectors of the Indian economy. Published since 1 January 1986, the S&P BSE SENSEX is regarded as the pulse of the domestic stock markets in India.
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