About Popular Market Indexes

Most indexes use market capitalization-based weighting, where the component securities are reflected in the index in proportion to their relative size. The Dow Jones^® Industrial Average (DJIA^®), however, uses a price-based weighting. In addition to the DJIA, there are hundreds of other indexes that track specific regions or industry sectors. Some of the most popular market indexes are described below.

• Nasdaq^® Composite Index
• Nasdaq-100 Index^®
• Dow Jones^® Industrial Average
• Standard & Poor's^® 500
• Russell 2000^® Index
• Dow Jones (DJ) Wilshire 5000^®
• Russell 3000^® Index

Nasdaq Composite Index

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a broad-based index that measures all domestic and international stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The index includes over 3,000 securities and is calculated using market capitalization.

Nasdaq-100 Index

The Nasdaq-100 Index is made up of the 100 largest and most actively-traded non-financial stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) consists of 30 stocks that are major factors in their industries.

Standard & Poor's 500

The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index represents over 70% of all U.S. publicly-traded companies and is often used as the benchmark for daily market performance.

Russell 2000 Index

The Russell 2000 Index covers the small-cap segment of U.S. equities and is completely reconstituted annually. The Russell 2000 includes the smallest 2000 securities in the Russell 3000 Index.

Dow Jones (DJ) Wilshire 5000

The DJ Wilshire 5000 represents the broadest index for the U.S. equity market. Although the exact number of stocks in the U.S. is not recorded, it is estimated to be about 15,000. The DJ Wilshire 5000 includes more issues than any other widely-known U.S. equity index, and for that reason is used here to represent the total U.S. stock market.

The DJ Wilshire 5000 Compared to the U.S. Market

The DJ Wilshire 5000 represents 5,076 securities (U.S. companies) and $13,115.7 billion (capitalization in U.S. market).

Russell 3000 Index

The Russell 3000 Index represents approximately 98% of the U.S. market, and is constructed to provide a barometer of the broad market. It is completely reconstituted annually.