S&P 500
Region: US · Currency: USD
Price history
Other indices
What drives the price
The S&P 500 is the most-watched US equity benchmark, tracking 500 large-cap companies weighted by free-float market capitalisation. It covers roughly 80% of available US market cap and is the reference index for most US-domiciled ETFs and index funds, including SPY, VOO and IVV.
- Federal Reserve policy and 10-year Treasury yields drive the discount-rate component of valuations
- Quarterly earnings season (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct) sets the bottom-up signal — beats/misses move the index
- Mega-cap tech weights (Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet) concentrate index sensitivity to a few names
- Sector rotation between cyclicals, defensives and tech tracks the macro narrative
Frequently asked questions
What is the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks 500 large-cap US companies, weighted by free-float market capitalisation. It is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices and is the most widely-followed gauge of US large-cap equity performance.
How is the S&P 500 different from the Dow?
The S&P 500 holds 500 companies weighted by market capitalisation, while the Dow holds just 30 companies weighted by share price. Because the S&P 500 is broader and uses cap-weighting, it is the institutional preferred benchmark for US equity exposure.
Can I invest directly in the S&P 500?
You cannot buy the index itself, but you can hold ETFs that track it exactly — SPY (SPDR), VOO (Vanguard) and IVV (iShares) are the three largest. Each provides essentially identical exposure with annual expense ratios of 0.03-0.09%.
What companies have the largest weight in the S&P 500?
The top weights are mega-cap technology companies — typically Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta — which together account for roughly 30% of the index. This concentration means index returns are heavily influenced by these few names.
Latest news
See all →
Wall Street Puts Blockchain to Work in $13 Trillion Repo Market
JPMorgan has spent over a decade and hundreds of millions developing blockchain systems for the $13 trillion repo market, aiming to improve efficiency in short-term borrowing.
Trump Crypto Wealth Swells $660 Million From Quiet Token Sales
The Trump family's crypto fortune rose by about $660 million after previously undisclosed token sales from World Liberty Financial Inc. boosted their total wealth to $1.55 billion.
Bond Market Abandons Warsh Trade as Oil Rally Reshapes Outlook
The bond market is unwinding the so-called Warsh trade as surging oil prices shift inflation and rate expectations, prompting a repricing across Treasuries and equities.
About this index
S&P 500 is one of the most-tracked equity benchmarks in its market. NowPrice publishes the live level along with intraday range and a 24-hour / 7-day / 30-day price-history chart. Data is sourced from Yahoo Finance and refreshed every 5 minutes during local trading hours; outside of session, the figure is the most recent close.