Nasdaq Composite Index Today
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed today at 18,398.45. Compared to yesterday’s closing price, the index increased by 115.04 points, or 0.63%. Year-to-date, the index has increased by 24.60%.
Today’s Nasdaq Chart
The Nasdaq Composite Index has historically been highly correlated with the S&P 500. The two indexes also share common components, including Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet.
Like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq typically reacts to macroeconomic catalysts such as U.S. gross domestic product growth, corporate earnings, investor sentiment and geopolitical headlines.
Nasdaq performance
Despite periods of extreme market volatility, including the dot-com bubble and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nasdaq has posted an overall gain of 316.59% over the past decade, significantly outperforming the S&P 500, which has risen 185.42% over the same period.
Nasdaq 100 companies
The Nasdaq 100 Index is a subset of the Nasdaq Composite Index that includes the 100 largest Nasdaq stocks by market capitalization. Below is a list of the best and worst performing Nasdaq 100 companies in the market.
Dow and Nasdaq today
The Nasdaq Composite Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are the most popular benchmarks in the U.S. stock market.
The Nasdaq closed today at 18,398.45 while the Dow closed at 40,000.90. Year to date, the Nasdaq is up 24.60% while the Dow is up 6.06%.
While both indexes are well diversified, each has its own focus and may appeal to different types of investors.
The Dow is known as a blue-chip index because its 30 constituent companies are typically made up of large companies with industry-leading businesses, valuable and recognizable brands, and a track record of stability and profitability over time.
The Nasdaq is packed with growth stocks that don’t have proven track records. As a result, it can be volatile during market downturns but tends to outperform the Dow during strong economic times.
Nasdaq top 10 stocks
The Nasdaq Composite Index is a market-capitalization weighted average, meaning that larger, more valuable companies have more influence than smaller, less valuable companies.
The top 10 companies have a combined index weight of over 50%.
As of December 29, 2023, the top 10 Nasdaq constituent stocks by weight are Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet Class A (GOOGL), Alphabet Class C (GOOG), Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (META), Broadcom (AVGO), and Costco (COST).
What is the Nasdaq Composite Index?
The Nasdaq Composite Index is an index that tracks the stock prices of all stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It is managed by Nasdaq and is made up of a total of over 3,400 constituent stocks.
To be included in the index, stocks must be common stocks of companies listed only on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Real estate investment trusts, American depositary receipts, and limited liability partnership shares are eligible for inclusion in the index, but preferred stocks, exchange-traded funds, and some other types of securities are not included in the index.
Because the Nasdaq Composite Index includes all common stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, there are no specific index eligibility requirements regarding market capitalization, trading volume or other characteristics, although the Nasdaq Stock Market does have eligibility requirements for listing on its exchange.
To qualify for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market, a company must meet at least one of four eligibility requirements, including a bid price of at least $4 and at least 1.1 million unrestricted public shares.
Once listed, a company must continue to meet Nasdaq’s continued listing criteria, including having a total of at least 400 shareholders.
The Nasdaq Composite Index is reconstituted daily, with new constituents being added or removed based on the previous trading day’s securities offering.
Investing in Nasdaq
Because the Nasdaq Composite is an index and not an asset, you can’t buy it directly. However, there are several ways to track the Nasdaq’s performance without buying shares in its 3,400+ companies. You can buy index mutual funds or ETFs that are designed to track the Nasdaq Composite.
More advanced traders can also trade Nasdaq derivatives contracts such as futures and options. Nasdaq also offers more than 150 annuity and index life insurance products linked to the Nasdaq index.
Nasdaq ETFs
Exchange-traded funds contain a basket of securities constructed to match the performance of an underlying index, such as the Nasdaq Composite Index. Shares of the popular Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index ETF (ONEQ) can be purchased directly in your brokerage account, just like stocks.
Some ETFs track a related index called the Nasdaq 100. The Invesco QQQ Trust Series I ETF (QQQ) tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index with an expense ratio, or annual management fee, of just 0.2%.
More aggressive traders can purchase leveraged Nasdaq ETFs such as ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ), which offers 3x leveraged exposure to the Nasdaq 100. However, investors should understand that leveraged ETFs carry inherent risks and will often underperform their targets over the long term.
What are Nasdaq Futures?
Nasdaq futures are derivative contracts tied to the Nasdaq Composite Index. Nasdaq futures offer traders an affordable means to speculate on the future price movements of the Nasdaq or hedge long or short positions in Nasdaq index funds.
The price of each CME E-mini Nasdaq Composite Futures (QCN) contract is 20 times the value of the Nasdaq Composite Index. The price of each CME E-mini Nasdaq 100 Futures (NQ) contract is 20 times the value of the Nasdaq 100 Index.
These futures contracts trade on CME Globex from 6pm ET on Sundays to 5pm ET on Fridays, with a maintenance period from 5pm ET to 6pm ET each day.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How many companies are in the Nasdaq Composite Index?
As of December 29, 2023, the Nasdaq Composite Index includes more than 3,400 stocks, although that number fluctuates as companies gain and lose eligibility. All common stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market are included in the Nasdaq Composite Index.
What does Nasdaq stand for?
Nasdaq originally stood for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. Today, Nasdaq Inc. is the name of the financial services company that owns and operates the Nasdaq stock exchange and several other global exchanges.