Right now the FTSE stands at 5744.9 and the Dow Jones stands at 11023.4. What were the figures when the indices just began? Did they start at 0?
2006-06-29 03:04:20 · 1 answers · asked by bonshui 6 in Social Science ➔ Economics
Or (given that the indices go down as well as up and that a negative value would not be possible) did they start at a fixed figure like 1000?
2006-06-29 03:12:02 · update #1
Most stock indexes started with a base value of 100, there are a few that started at 10.
2006-06-29 08:14:47 · answer #1 · answered by NC 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The DJIA uses a price-weighted measure, which is a little hard to explain, but it causes inaccuracies. Since I couldn't really explain it well, I found a link that explains it.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/082702.asp
The S&P, which is a better gauge, uses a market-capitalization weighted method which is more accurate.
2006-06-29 03:17:48 · answer #2 · answered by Grrraarrr 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋