Index (economics) Information & Index (economics) Links at HealthHaven.com

This article is about index in an economics and finance sense. For other uses, see Index.

In economics and finance, an index is a single number calculated from a set of prices or of quantities^{[citation needed]}. Examples include the price index, quantity indexes (such as real GDP), market performance indexes (such as a labour market index / job Index and stock market indexes). Values of the index in successive periods (days, years, etc.) summarize level of the activity over time or across economic units (regions, countries, etc.)^{[citation needed]}.

In financial markets, an index is a customized basket of securities that tracks a particular market or segment. Each index has its own calculation methodology and its own specific process in order to select particular securities. Some companies (S&P, Dow Jones, SG Index, STOXX) have created a lot of indices to replicate different markets or selected industries. S&P is one of the most known index provider with the S&P 500. It offers a wide range of indices like the S&P Asian Index which measures the equity market of a basket of Asian countries (India, Economy of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore). Dow Jones Indexes provide a range of indices like the world oldest, and very famous, Dow Jones Industrial Average. It provides also an index which measures the stock performances of 50 leading multinational companies. SG Index, established in 2007, is a new provider of indices who provides data used by a number of financial products. One of the most famous index is the SGI Wise Index, that provides an exposure to European equities.

The Operating Index is a tool to measure a company's performance on a financial metric and compare it with the median or average performance of that metric in a Peer universe over a period of time.

Consumer price indexes can be used, among other things to adjust salaries, bonds interest rates, and tax thresholds for inflation.

Some investment funds (index funds) manage their portfolio so that their performance mirrors (tracking) the performance of a stock market index or a sector of the stock market^{[citation needed]}.