Definition: The S&P 500 index is an index of 500 stocks considered a widely held sample of various industries in the U.S., but chosen by a committee from Standard and Poors.
The S&P 500 index uses market value of the stocks and is generally considered one of the best measures of the U.S. stock market and a benchmark for mutual funds to be rated against.
Unfortunately, the S&P 500 index is limited to only publicly available stocks with a certain degree of liquidity. The index is weighted by market-value and has been around since 1957.
Also Known As: Standard and Poor's 500 Index, SNP:^GSPC
Alternate Spellings: sp 500, s and p 500, sp500 index, S&P 500
Examples: The S&P 500 closed above 1,400 today, a gain of 3.2 or 0.23%.
