The Dow Jones Composite Index finished the year 2024 at 13,391.71 points, an increase compared to the previous year. Even with the economic effects of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2021 had the highest point of the index in the past two decades. What is Dow Jones Composite Index? The Dow Jones Composite Index is one of the indices from the Dow Jones index family. It is composed of 65 leading U.S. companies: 30 stocks forming the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, 20 stocks from the Dow Jones Transportation index and 15 stocks from the Dow Jones Utility Average index. Importance of stock indices A stock market index shows an average performance of companies from a given section of the market. It is usually a weighted average, meaning that such factors as price of companies or their market capitalization are taken into consideration when calculating the index value. Stock indices are very useful for the financial market participants, as they instantly show the sentiments prevailing on a given market. They are also commonly used as a benchmark against portfolio performance, showing if a given portfolio has outperformed, or underperformed the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted significant points losses due to the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. With stocks falling sharply, the Dow recorded its worst single-day points drop ever, plunging 2,997 points – nearly 13 percent – on March 16, 2020.

Boeing stock hits turbulence The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a stock market index that tracks the share prices of the top 30 U.S. companies. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, firms heavily dependent on travel and tourism had a particularly difficult start to the year. Due to lower production rates and the suspension of flights in the first quarter of 2020, Boeing’s revenue dropped to 16.9 billion U.S. dollars – this represented a year-on-year decline of 26 percent. However, in the second quarter of 2020, Boeing was one of the leading stocks in the DJIA index. Shares were boosted by the relaxing of travel restrictions and greater passenger confidence in flying.

Comparing market collapses Index points represent changes in the collective value of the 30 stocks in the DJIA, providing the general direction of the market. March 2020 was one of the most volatile months in the history of the stock index. Not only did the market record significant losses, but it also saw dramatic one-day points gains. Percentages can also be used to gain a deeper understanding of the true value gained or lost on the market. The largest single-day percentage loss in the history of the Dow remains ‘Black Monday’ in October 1987.

View data of the S&P 500, an index of the stocks of 500 leading companies in the US economy, which provides a gauge of the U.S. equity market.

Observed p + q mean values are very close to the value of 1 for Nikkei and DJIA and despite non stationarity, are also close to 1 for Nasdaq and IPC markets. Restricting our analysis to dates thereafter year 1999, clearly p + q values are even nearest to the value of 1 for all markets.

Graph and download economic data for CBOE DJIA Volatility Index (VXDCLS) from 1997-10-07 to 2025-03-25 about VIX, volatility, stock market, and USA.

The S&P 500, an index of 500 publicly traded companies in the United States, closed at 5,881.63 points on the last trading day of December 2024. What is the S&P 500? The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks the evolution of 500 companies. In contrast to the Dow Jones Industrial Index, which measures the performance of thirty large U.S. companies, the S&P 500 shows the sentiments in the broader market. Publicly traded companies Companies on the S&P 500 are publicly traded, meaning that anyone can invest in them. A large share of adults in the United States invest in the stock market, though many of these are through a retirement account or mutual fund. While most people make a modest return, the most successful investors have made billions of U.S. dollars through investing.

Same values generated for two additional overlapping time frames of 200 and 300 days are also displayed.

In 2024, 62 percent of adults in the United States invested in the stock market. This figure has remained steady over the last few years, and is still below the levels before the Great Recession, when it peaked in 2007 at 65 percent. What is the stock market? The stock market can be defined as a group of stock exchanges, where investors can buy shares in a publicly traded company. In more recent years, it is estimated an increasing number of Americans are using neobrokers, making stock trading more accessible to investors. Other investments A significant number of people think stocks and bonds are the safest investments, while others point to real estate, gold, bonds, or a savings account. Since witnessing the significant one-day losses in the stock market during the Financial Crisis, many investors were turning towards these alternatives in hopes for more stability, particularly for investments with longer maturities. This could explain the decrease in this statistic since 2007. Nevertheless, some speculators enjoy chasing the short-run fluctuations, and others see value in choosing particular stocks.

The replication data contain MATLAB and GAUSS codes as well as the data required for replication of the results from the paper

1. Monte Carlo Simulation:

Contains codes and data for simulation study from Section 3.

Data:

• MV.mat, MV.txt- monthly data on market capitalization of the 205 stocks of the S&P500 index obtained from DataStream for the period 01.01.1974-01.05.2015

• sp500_edata.mat - monthly data on close prices of components of S&P500 index for the period 01.01.1974-01.05.2015 processed to obtain excess returns using as a risk free return data on the risk free return from French & Fama database. Description of the price data from DataStream: "The ‘current’ prices taken at the close of market are stored each day. These stored prices are adjusted for subsequent capital actions, and this adjusted figure then becomes the default price offered on all Research programs. " Description of the excess return of the market from French & Fama database : "the excess return on the market, value-weight return of all CRSP firms incorporated in the US and listed on the NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ that have a CRSP share code of 10 or 11 at the beginning of month t, good shares and price data at the beginning of t, and good return data for t minus theone-month Treasury bill rate (from Ibbotson Associates)." From the latest file two separate data files were created (see CAPMsim.m):

• sp500_stocks.txt, sp500_stocks.mat - monthly data on close prices of 205 components of S&P500 index for the period 01.01.1974-01.05.2015

• FactorData.txt, FactorData.txt - The Fama & French factors from French & Fama database for a period July 1926 - May 2015.

Codes:

• CAPMsim.m - the main code that replicates the Monte Carlo simulation of the artificial market and proxy indexes subject to different types of the measurement error.

• sure.m- obtains the estimated parameters for the SUR system and performs hypothesis testing of the significance of the coefficients.

2. Empirical Application

Contains codes and data for empirical application from Section 4.

Data:

• data1203.txt - 120 monthly observations on the excess returns on 20 random stocks from S&P500, S&P500 index return, DJIA return from DataStream and excess return of the CRSP index from French & Fama database for a period 01/06/2005-01/05/2015.

• data1204.txt - 120 monthly observations on the excess returns on 30 stocks from DJIA, S&P500 index return, DJIA return from DataStream and excess return of the CRSP index from French & Fama database for a period 01/06/2005-01/05/2015.

• DJSTOCKS_60_FF_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 30 stocks from DJIA from DataStream and excess return of the CRSP index from French & Fama database for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.

• DJSTOCKS_60_SP_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 30 stocks from DJIA and S&P500 index return from DataStream for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.

  • DJSTOCKS_60_DJ_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 30 stocks from DJIA and DJIA return from DataStream for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.
  • STOCKS_60_FF_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 20 random stocks from S&P500 from DataStream and excess return of the CRSP index from French & Fama database for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.
  • STOCKS_60_SP_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 20 random stocks from S&P500 and S&P500 index return from DataStream for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.

• STOCKS_60_DJ_Z.dat - 60 monthly observations on the excess returns on 20 random stocks from S&P500 and DJIA return from DataStream for a period 01/06/2010-01/05/2015.

  Description of the variables in the data sets:

• Z_1, Z_2,...,Z_20,..., Z_30 - returns of individual stocks depending on the data set.

• For calculation of the returns adjusted prices from DataStream were used (see data from Monte Carlo simulation part). Risk free return is taken from French & Fama database.

• Time period was shortened from 120 to 60 observations: 01/06/2010-01/05/2015

• Excess returns from the market and indeces:

  • Z_SP - 60 observations on excess return of the S&P500 from DataStream
  • Z_DJ - 60 observations on excess return of the DJIA from DataStream
  • Z_FF - 60 observations on excess return of the market from French & Fama database

Codes:

• load_stocks120.gss - loads the data on the returns of the randomly selected 20 socks of S&P500 and selects last 60 observations
  • load_djstocks120.gss - loads the data on the returns of the 30 socks of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index and selects last 60 observations
  • CAPM.prc- contains functions to estimate CAPM model by SUR and Minimum Distance methods
• CAPM.inc- sets the format for the output files from the GAUSS procedures
• CAPM_STOCKS20_FF.gss, CAPM_STOCKS20_DJ.gss, CAPM_STOCKS20_SP.gss, CAPM_DJSTOCKS30_FF.gss,CAPM_DJSTOCKS30_DJ.gss,CAPM_DJSTOCKS30_SP.gss - GAUSS procedures to estimate the CAPM models based on particular data set (20 random stocks or 30 stocks from DJIA as well as different market indexes: S&P500, DJIA, CRSP) and generate separate output files. 2019-03-05 11:51:42.893129 The replication data contain MATLAB and GAUSS codes as well as the data required for replication of the results from the paper

Descriptive statistics of data presented in Tables 2–5.

Composition of uninterrupted trends observed in the Nasdaq data sample.

Composition of uninterrupted trends found in the IPC data sample.

Until the third quarter of 2021, the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 ESG index exhibited similar performance, both indexes were weighted to similar industries as the S&P 500 followed the leading 500 companies in the United States. By the fourth quarter of 2021, the S&P 500 ESG index began to steadily outperform the S&P 500 by four points on average. During the coronavirus pandemic, the technology sector was one of the best-performing sectors in the market. The major differences between the two indexes were the S&P 500 ESG index was skewed towards firms with higher environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and had a higher concentration of technology securities than the S&P 500 index. What is a market capitalization index? Both the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 ESG are market capitalization indexes, meaning the individual components (such as stocks and other securities) weighted to the indexes influence the overall value. Market trends such as inflation, interest rates, and international issues like the coronavirus pandemic and the popularity of ESG among professional investors affect the performance of stocks. When weighted components rise in value this causes an increase in the overall value of the index they are weighted too. What trends are driving index performance? Recent economic and social trends have led to higher levels of ESG integration and maintenance among firms worldwide and higher prioritization from investors to include ESG-focused firms in their investment choices. From a global survey group over one-third of the respondents were willing to prioritize ESG benefits over a higher return on their investment. These trends influenced the performance of securities on the market, leading to an increased value of individual weighted stocks, resulting in an overall increase in the index value.

The main stock market index in Russia (MOEX) increased 264 points or 9.16% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Russia. Russia Stock Market Index MOEX CFD - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Home Price Index (Low Tier) for New York, New York (NYXRLTSA) from Jan 1987 to Jan 2025 about low tier, New York, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Home Price Index (Low Tier) for San Francisco, California (SFXRLTNSA) from Jan 1987 to Jan 2025 about low tier, San Francisco, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Between March 4 and March 11, 2020, the S&P 500 index declined by twelve percent, descending into a bear market. On March 12, 2020, the S&P 500 plunged 9.5 percent, its steepest one-day fall since 1987. The index began to recover at the start of April and reached a peak in December 2021. As of December 29, 2024, the value of the S&P 500 stood at 5,942.47 points. Coronavirus sparks stock market chaos Stock markets plunged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with investors fearing its spread would destroy economic growth. Buoyed by figures that suggested cases were leveling off in China, investors were initially optimistic about the virus being contained. However, confidence in the market started to subside as the number of cases increased worldwide. Investors were deterred from buying stocks, and this was reflected in the markets – the values of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite also dived during the height of the crisis. What is a bear market? A bear market occurs when the value of a stock market suffers a prolonged decline of more than 20 percent over a period of at least two months. The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe concern and sent stock markets on a steep downward spiral. The S&P 500 achieved a record closing high of 3,386 on February 19, 2020. However, just over three weeks later, the market closed on 2,480, which represented a decline of around 26 percent in only 16 sessions.

Graph and download economic data for Home Price Sales Pair Counts for Boston, Massachusetts (BOXRPSNSA) from Jan 1987 to Dec 2024 about Boston, sales, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

The main stock market index in Kenya (Nairobi 20) increased 244 points or 12.12% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Kenya. Kenya Stock Market (NSE20) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.

The main stock market index in the United Kingdom (GB100) increased 479 points or 5.86% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from United Kingdom. United Kingdom Stock Market Index (GB100) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.