The S&P 500 is a stock market index representing the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. It captures approximately 80% of the total U.S. market capitalization. With an aggregate market cap of over $49.8 trillion as of March 31, 2025, the S&P 500 is a widely followed indicator of the U.S. stock market's health and overall economic condition.
In 1906, the Standard Statistics Bureau was founded, later becoming the Standard Statistics Company.
In 1923, the Standard Statistics Company developed its first stock market index, consisting of the stocks of 233 U.S. companies, computed weekly.
Since its inception in 1926, the index's compound annual growth rate—including dividends—has been approximately 9.8%.
In 1941, Poor's Publishing merged with Standard Statistics Company to form Standard & Poor's.
On March 4, 1957, the index was expanded to its current extent of 500 companies and was renamed the S&P 500 Stock Composite Index.
In 1962, Ultronic Systems became the compiler of the S&P indices, including the S&P 500 Stock Composite Index.
On August 31, 1976, The Vanguard Group offered the first mutual fund to retail investors that tracked the index.
On April 21, 1982, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) began trading futures based on the index.
The original SP big contract began trading in 1982.
On July 1, 1983, the Chicago Board Options Exchange began trading options based on the index.
Beginning in 1986, the index value was updated every 15 seconds, with price updates disseminated by Reuters.
On January 22, 1993, the Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts exchange-traded fund issued by State Street Corporation began trading.
On September 9, 1997, CME Group introduced the S&P E-mini futures contract.
In 2005, the index transitioned to a public float-adjusted capitalization-weighting.
Friday, September 17, 2021, was the final trading date for the original SP big contract which began trading in 1982.
In October 2021, a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggested that companies' purchases of ratings services from S&P Global may improve their chance of entering the S&P 500.
On March 31, 2025, the S&P 500 had an aggregate market capitalization of more than $49.8 trillion.
In 2025, the S&P 500 reached a record high of 6,280.46 on July 10th, followed by an intra-year correction to a low of 4,982.77 on April 8 before recovering.
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