9. The big picture: macro, markets and news

World indices and trading hours (WEI, MAP)

WEI lists the main stock indices of the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific with their level, change and session status, and MAP shows every trading venue on a world map.

  • 4 min
  • 3 questions
  • Lesson 1 of 6

Why you would care

Which markets are open, and how did each one do? Markets pass the baton around the globe: Asia trades while New York sleeps, Europe opens before the US. A big move in Tokyo overnight often sets the tone for the US open. Knowing which markets are open, and how they did, is the first glance of the trading day.

The idea from scratch

Each country has benchmark indices (chapter 01, Funds, ETFs and indices): a measuring rule for a group of stocks. The main ones:

RegionExamples
AmericasS&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, Russell 2000 (small companies), S&P/TSX (Canada), Bovespa (Brazil)
EuropeFTSE 100 (UK), DAX (Germany), CAC 40 (France), Euro Stoxx 50 (euro area), SMI (Switzerland)
Asia-PacificNikkei 225 (Japan), Hang Seng (Hong Kong), Shanghai Composite, KOSPI (Korea), ASX 200 (Australia), Sensex (India)

Two "other" lines matter to everyone:

  • VIX

    the market's 30-day implied volatility (chapter 06).

  • DXY (US dollar index)

    the dollar against a basket of major currencies.

The trading day around the world

Each exchange has its own hours in its own time zone, plus lunch breaks in some Asian markets and holidays. A venue is identified by its MIC (market identifier code), like XNYS for the NYSE or XASX for the Australian exchange.

Diagram: Asia-Pacific opens leads to Europe opens; Europe opens leads to US opens; US opens leads to US closes; US closes leads to Asia-Pacific opens.
Wide diagram: scroll sideways to see all of it.

See it in Gloom

Gloom screenshot: WEI: world indices by region with session status, last level, change and time; Asia-Pacific open, the rest closed
WEI: world indices by region with session status, last level, change and time; Asia-Pacific open, the rest closed. Historical example.

open themtype WEI for indices, MAP for the venue map.

  1. SESSION: OPEN for Nikkei, ASX and Sensex at 04:39 UTC; CLOSED elsewhere, with the previous session's numbers.
  2. SPX S&P 500 7,704.13 -1.90 -0.02%: the last US close.
  3. NKY Nikkei 225 66,365.02 +851.03 +1.30%: Tokyo up strongly while the US sleeps.
  4. SHCOMP with dashes: no data at capture.
  5. DXY 101.28: the dollar index, trading almost around the clock.
Gloom screenshot: MAP: trading venues on a world map, open ones in green, with each venue's local time and the selected venue's closing countdown
MAP: trading venues on a world map, open ones in green, with each venue's local time and the selected venue's closing countdown. Historical example.
  1. In MAP: XASX Sydney, Australia · 14:55 · closes 1h 5m: the selected venue, its local time and time to close; green dots and numbers count open venues per area.

Practice and recap

Try it3 tasks
  1. In WEI, which region was trading at capture? (Asia-Pacific: Nikkei, ASX, Sensex.)
  2. Which European index fell most on its last session? (DAX, -0.57%.)
  3. In MAP, what is XBOM? (BSE Ltd, the Bombay Stock Exchange.)
Common mistakes4 mistakes
  • Comparing an open market's live level with closed markets' old closes as if they were simultaneous.
  • Forgetting time zones and holidays.
  • Reading the Dow (30 stocks, price-weighted) as the whole US market.
  • Ignoring currency: a Nikkei rise in yen is not the same return in dollars.
Check yourself3 questions
  1. What does DXY measure?
  2. What is a MIC?
  3. Why does a closed index still show a change?
Answers
  1. The US dollar against a basket of major currencies.
  2. A market identifier code for a trading venue, like XNYS.
  3. It shows the change of its last completed session.
Words in this lesson5 words
benchmark index
The standard index for a market, like the S&P 500.
DXY
The US dollar index.
venue
A place where trading happens: an exchange or similar.
MIC
Market identifier code of a venue.
local time
The time in the venue's own time zone.

Educational material about reading market data, not investment advice.