Live World Stock Indices — 20 Benchmarks Across 5 Regions
Stock indices track the aggregate performance of a basket of leading companies and are a headline gauge of market sentiment and economic health. From Wall Street's S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to Europe's FTSE 100 and DAX and Asia's Nikkei 225, index moves reflect earnings, rate expectations and global risk appetite. All 20 indices below are grouped by region — live levels update continuously — and the methodology table further down explains why two indices covering the same market can move apart on the same day.
US Indices
Wall Street's four headline benchmarks — the broad-market S&P 500, blue-chip Dow Jones, tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and small-cap Russell 2000.
The Trend column shows an indicative trend line that updates as live prices stream in. It is not a chart of real intraday price history.
Europe Indices
Leading national and pan-regional benchmarks from London, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Madrid and Amsterdam.
The Trend column shows an indicative trend line that updates as live prices stream in. It is not a chart of real intraday price history.
Asia-Pacific Indices
Headline benchmarks from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea and mainland China's CSI 300.
The Trend column shows an indicative trend line that updates as live prices stream in. It is not a chart of real intraday price history.
Emerging Markets Indices
The largest emerging-market benchmarks — India's Nifty 50, mainland China's Shanghai Composite and Brazil's Bovespa.
The Trend column shows an indicative trend line that updates as live prices stream in. It is not a chart of real intraday price history.
The broader emerging-market universe is also tracked live by the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM).
Global Indices
Other developed markets outside the groupings above — currently Canada's S&P/TSX Composite.
The Trend column shows an indicative trend line that updates as live prices stream in. It is not a chart of real intraday price history.
How the Benchmarks Differ — Coverage & Weighting
Two indices covering the same market can move apart on the same day because they hold different companies and weight them differently. The methodology below is what decides which constituent actually moves the number.
Cash index vs index futures and CFDs
An index level is a calculated number, not something you can buy. The cash index is computed only while its home market's share trading is open — the S&P 500 and Dow Jones through the New York session, 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern, and each other benchmark through its own local session. The futures and CFDs that track those indices trade nearly around the clock on weekdays, which is why a quoted level can already have moved a long way before the underlying market opens when news lands overnight.
That gap is also why regional benchmarks react to the same headline at different points in the day, and why an index-tracking ETF only prices during its own exchange's hours. Trading conditions differ by instrument and by provider, so compare terms on the brokers page rather than assuming they match.
About index trading
Indices are most active during their home-market cash sessions but are tradable nearly around the clock via futures and CFDs. They tend to move on the same macro drivers as currencies — central-bank policy, inflation and growth data — so pairing an index view with the economic calendar is essential. Read the latest market news and drill into individual stocks that drive each benchmark.
Frequently asked questions
What are the major stock indices?
A stock index measures the combined performance of a basket of leading companies, so it works as a single gauge for a whole market. The headline names on this page include Wall Street's S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100, Europe's FTSE 100 and DAX, and Asia's Nikkei 225. Each one tracks a different group of companies, which is why their moves can diverge on any given day.
What moves index prices?
Because an index is built from many companies, it tends to move on broad drivers rather than a single firm: corporate earnings, central-bank interest-rate expectations, inflation and growth data, and the market's overall risk appetite. A large move in a heavily weighted member can also pull a whole index with it. You can follow the scheduled releases behind these swings on our economic calendar.
Are these index prices live or delayed?
It depends on the exchange and the upstream feed. Index quotes come from Yahoo Finance and may be live or delayed, and each table shows a "Live" or "Delayed" pill so you always know which you are looking at. If the feed is temporarily unreachable the page shows last-known prices rather than breaking. Figures are for information and education only, not for order execution.
Can I trade an index directly?
You cannot buy an index itself, because it is only a calculated number. Traders instead gain exposure through instruments that track it, such as index futures, CFDs or exchange-traded funds. You can explore funds that follow major benchmarks on our ETFs page and compare where to trade on our brokers page.
Why do indices in different regions move at different times?
Each index is most active during its home market's cash trading session — for example New York hours for the S&P 500 and London hours for the FTSE 100 — although many are tradable nearly around the clock via futures and CFDs. That is why Asian, European and US benchmarks can react at different points in the day to the same piece of news.