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Glossary · Stock basics

Market index

A basket of stocks tracked as one number, like the S&P 500.

Why it matters

Indices show what the market as a whole is doing. The S&P 500 holds 500 large US companies, the Nasdaq Composite leans to technology, and the Dow tracks 30 giants.

How to read it

If most stocks are moving the same way as the index, the move is about the market, not the company.

Related

BetaHow much a stock tends to move when the whole market moves.

In the Cluenex app, this explanation opens next to every market index figure, with the live reading for the stock you are looking at. Open it in Cluenex