What Are the Most Traded Indices?

Plus500 offers CFDs over a variety of unique indices based on an industry’s top publicly traded companies.

Some of Plus500’s most popular indices CFDs are:

• US Tech 100 - A collective of the United States’ 100 top performing technology companies, based on the NASDAQ 100.
• Germany 30 - Follows the top 30 companies in Germany according to trading volume and market capitalization.
• USA500 - An index which follows the movement of the S&P 500.
• Cannabis Stock Index - BGCANG follows the Cannabis Industry’s top performers.
• VIX Volatility Index - Based on CBDOE’s ‘fear gauge’, this index follows S&P 500 futures contracts to predict volatility and trader confidence.
• Crypto 10* - Follows and measures the performance of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market, including Bitcoin, Ethereum & more as reported by BITA Data.

Plus500 unique indices

While some of the most popular traded indices in traditional markets follow whole economies, there are also industry-specific indices that track the progress and movements of a specific sector. These can be telecommunications, technology, cannabis, and even crypto currencies.

Illustrative prices.

Plus500 offers exclusive sector-specific indices. These indices are compiled using real-time data, giving investors up to the minute valuations.

These include:

• Cannabis Stock Index - BGCANG follows the Cannabis Industry’s top performers.
• Crypto 10 Index* - Follows and measures the performance of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market, including Bitcoin, Ethereum & more as reported by BITA Data.
• Lithium & Battery Index - Follows 15 top American manufacturers of lithium and battery metals.
• Real Estate Giants Index - Follows the 30 biggest publicly-listed companies in North America operating in the real estate sector.

Beyond trading, investors may follow Plus500’s unique indices CFDs to gain a grander perspective of sector movements and fluctuations within these sectors.

The market holds trading opportunities regardless of the direction it moves. Savvy investors use all tools at their disposal to understand the markets and try to predict future trends.

Illustrative prices.

Stock Indices in Financial Markets

Stock indices are a compilation of publicly traded stocks, allowing investors to gain a glimpse into a whole market or sector. Plus500 offers its traders the opportunity to trade contracts on the movements of some of the most popular indices without requiring them to purchase the underlying assets.

There are some differences between trading in traditional markets and trading using CFDs. In traditional markets, whole market funds are regularly pooled into mutual funds. In these funds, growth can be slow and assets are accompanied by fees, along with conditions for how and when to sell these shares. In addition, all trades are completed at the end of each trading day, meaning that a trade placed in the morning will have to wait for the closing bell to be closed at the new price.

In contrast, CFD trades can be executed at any time during trading hours. What’s more, traders can benefit from the ability to recognize personal gains even when an index drops since short selling is also available when trading CFDs. However, it is important to remember that trading CFDs carries a certain degree of risk and traders can also incur heavy losses. When trading CFDs, traders do not own the underlying asset.

What to consider when picking an index

Indices are unique trading tools because their value fluctuations are directly influenced by the rise and fall of other instruments. Just as traders research the fluctuations and factors for shares or commodities, it is important to weigh all the factors that may move an index in either direction, including various companies and sectors.

Factors that can affect indices include, but are not limited to, political events, trader sentiments, and unemployment reports. These are events which may move an Index in a specific direction, so even if the biggest company in the Index sees a big jump, the index value as a whole may drop due to the movements of the other companies included in the Index.