Global Stock Market Indexes

MSCI World — The Global Benchmark

The MSCI World Index was created in 1969 by Capital International — later acquired by Morgan Stanley, forming MSCI — as the first serious attempt to give international investors a single benchmark for developed-market equities worldwide. At launch it covered 18 countries; today it spans 23 developed markets including the US, Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada, representing approximately 85% of the free-float adjusted market capitalisation in each country.

The index is dominated by the United States, which typically accounts for around 70% of the total weight — a proportion that has grown steadily as US technology companies have ballooned in value. This concentration means that despite its "world" label, the MSCI World is heavily influenced by a small number of large US technology stocks. Investors seeking genuine global diversification often look to the MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index), which adds 24 emerging markets, or weight international allocations separately.

The MSCI World is a price return index by default, but total return versions (with net and gross dividend reinvestment) are widely used as benchmarks for global equity funds. It is the reference benchmark for the majority of globally diversified equity funds and ETFs, with trillions of dollars in assets tracking it directly. See how MSCI World compares over time in the IndexesIQ performance chart guide.

S&P 500 — The World's Most Watched Index

The S&P 500 was officially launched in 1957, but its roots go much deeper. Standard & Poor's began publishing a 90-stock index in 1926 and a broader Composite Index as early as 1923. The 1957 launch expanded coverage to 500 stocks across 90 industries, making it the first major market-cap weighted broad index. Its data has since been back-calculated to 1928, and historical researchers have extended a predecessor series all the way to the early 20th century — which is why IndexesIQ is able to show S&P 500 data dating back to 1910.

Today the S&P 500 is the world's most widely tracked equity index, with an estimated $15 trillion in assets benchmarked against it. It covers approximately 80% of total US market capitalisation. Warren Buffett famously bet in 2008 that a simple S&P 500 index fund would outperform a basket of hedge funds over 10 years — and won convincingly. For a deeper look at long-run US equity returns, see our insight on long-run equity returns.

Dow Jones Industrial Average — The World's Oldest Surviving Index

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published on May 26, 1896 by Charles Dow, co-founder of Dow Jones & Company and The Wall Street Journal. It originally covered just 12 industrial companies at a time when the US economy was rapidly industrialising. An even earlier version — the Dow Jones Transportation Average — had existed since 1884, making it arguably the world's first stock market index.

The DJIA is price-weighted rather than market-cap weighted, meaning a higher share price carries more influence regardless of company size — a methodology widely considered outdated but retained for historical continuity. The index expanded to 30 stocks in 1928, a number it retains today. No original 1896 member survives — General Electric, the longest-serving member, was finally removed in 2018.

DAX — Germany's Total Return Champion

The DAX was launched by STOXX/Deutsche Börse on July 1, 1988, initially comprising 30 of Germany's largest listed companies. In 2021, following the Wirecard accounting scandal — in which a DAX constituent was found to have fabricated €1.9 billion in cash — Deutsche Börse expanded the index to 40 stocks and tightened profitability requirements for inclusion.

What makes the DAX unusual is that it is one of the very few major indexes calculated as a total return index, meaning dividends are automatically reinvested. Most other major indexes (CAC 40, FTSE 100, IBEX 35 etc.) are price-only. Over long periods this gives the DAX a significant performance advantage of roughly 2–3% per year — purely from the reinvestment methodology rather than underlying corporate performance. This distinction is explained in detail in the IndexesIQ Index Manual.

IndexesIQ extends the DAX history back to 1959 using the predecessor Börsenzeitung index (BZ index), a price-weighted German equity index published by the Frankfurter Börsen-Zeitung newspaper, allowing nearly three additional decades of German equity market history to be studied.

CAC 40 — France's Blue-Chip Benchmark

The CAC 40 (Cotation Assistée en Continu — meaning "continuous assisted quotation") was launched on December 31, 1987 by the Paris Bourse, now part of Euronext Paris. It covers the 40 largest and most liquid companies listed on Euronext Paris, reviewed quarterly. Despite its name suggesting French companies, the CAC 40 is an international index — its constituents derive the majority of their revenues outside France, making it as much a global as a domestic benchmark.

The CAC 40 is a price-only index and does not include dividends. France has historically had relatively high dividend yields among major markets, meaning the gap between the CAC 40's price return and its total return equivalent is significant over long holding periods. A CAC 40 Gross Return (GR) version exists but is less commonly quoted.

FTSE 100 — The Footsie

The FTSE 100 (nicknamed the "Footsie") was launched on January 3, 1984 as a real-time tradeable index to underpin a new UK equity derivatives market. It covers the 100 largest companies by market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange, reviewed quarterly by FTSE Russell. Like the CAC 40, it is a price-only index whose components are highly international — the majority of FTSE 100 revenues come from outside the UK.

IndexesIQ extends the FTSE 100 history back to 1935 using the predecessor FTSE 30 index (originally the Financial News 30-Share Index), which tracked 30 leading UK industrial companies. This predecessor series allows over 80 years of continuous UK equity market history to be studied — spanning the Great Depression, World War II, post-war reconstruction, the oil shocks, and multiple boom-and-bust cycles. Explore this in the long-run equity returns insight.

Nikkei 225 — Japan's Post-War Economic Story

The Nikkei 225 was originally launched by the Tokyo Stock Exchange on September 7, 1950, back-calculated to May 16, 1949 when Japan's stock market reopened after World War II. In 1970, management passed to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (The Nikkei) newspaper, whose name the index bears today. Like the Dow Jones, it is price-weighted.

The Nikkei's most defining moment came on December 29, 1989, when it reached an all-time high of 38,957 points at the peak of Japan's asset price bubble. It then lost nearly 80% of its value over the following 13 years — one of the most prolonged bear markets in financial history. It only surpassed its 1989 peak again in early 2024 — 35 years later — a sobering reminder that even developed market equity investments can take a lifetime to recover. For perspective on recovery timescales, see our insight on staying invested through downturns.