US100 today chart

The US100 Index tracks the US100 stock exchange, a US-based exchange. This means it tracks the stocks listed in an exchange that’s been active since 1971. Based on trading volume and market capitalisation, US100 is among the largest exchanges in the world. As such, the US100 Index share price is the focus for a lot of traders. In fact, such is its popularity that it is split into two parts: the Composite Index and the US100.

The US100 is a capitalization-weighted index that tracks the top 100 non-financial companies on the exchange. These securities focus on a variety of sectors, including biotech, retail, tech, and computer hardware/software. Therefore, when you trade US100, you’re taking an interest in US companies that serve industries with global significance.

The history of the US100 Index (IXIC) goes back to 1971. It had a starting value of 100 and because the US100 exchange features a large number of technology companies, the US100 accounts for 90% of the Composite Index’s value. That’s important when it comes to assessing the US100 Index price because many of its most significant movements have come during pivotal times for the technology sector.

For example, on July 17, 1995, when companies such as Sun Microsystems were releasing JavaScript, the Index value closed above 1,000 for the first time. The next major milestone for US100 price was the dot-com boom. Between 1995 and 2000, the US100 Index value increased 400% before coming back down during the dot-com crash.

Why trade the US100 index share price?
The Index and US100 are a great way to take a broad interest in the technology and retail sectors. By tracking 100 of the largest non-financial companies in the US, the US100 has the potential to rise in line with major technological innovations of a generation.

Trading and investing are two sides of the same coin. Trading the US100 Index allows you to speculate on its price movements without owning the underlying asset. Investing is where you buy the underlying asset and, therefore, have a direct stake in its fortunes. Both have their benefits, but trading US100 shares can be useful because you can go long or short.

As shown in the history of the US100 Index and the dot-com boom, the value of US100 can increase and decrease sharply over a period of time. This is why having the ability to speculate on the share price rising and falling can be a positive.