What Is the Russell 2000 Stock Market Index? The Motley Fool

Her background in education allows her to make complex financial topics relatable and easily understood by the layperson. She is the author of four books, including End Financial Stress Now and The Five Years Before You Retire. You cannot, however, purchase Russell 2000 funds directly from FTSE Russell Group.

1. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it.
2. For comparison, the S&P SmallCap 600 covers approximately 2.5% of the U.S. stocks by market cap whereas the Russell 2000 covers about 10%.
3. You should consider whether you understand how this product works, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
4. IG International Limited receives services from other members of the IG Group including IG Markets Limited.
5. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result.
6. Together, that data forms a picture that helps investors compare current price levels with past prices to calculate market performance.

One of the oldest stock indexes, the Dow Jones tracks 30 of the largest U.S. companies. For example, the Russell 2000 growth index is designed to gauge how small-cap growth stocks etoro broker review are performing. About 1,300 stocks out of the broader Russell 2000 qualify for the growth subindex, with the technology and healthcare sectors making up the largest contributions.

Related Indexes

However, leverage means that your profits and losses calculated on the full position size – so profits and losses can substantially outweigh your initial margin amount. If you choose to trade the index using CFDs, you won’t take ownership of any underlying assets (ie the actual stocks of Russell 2000 companies themselves). This means that you can speculate on the index’s price movements in either direction. If you think the index price will go up, you’ll choose to ‘buy’ and will ‘sell’ if you think it’ll go down. Because companies’ market capitalisation changes frequently, the Russell 2000 Index is recalibrated (where the index is rebalanced to best reflect its companies most recent caps) once a year, usually in June. If you want to invest in the Russell 2000 Index, you don’t need to buy all 2,000 stocks.

How does the Russell 2000 Index work?

In comparison, the Russell 1000’s large-cap stocks represent approximately 92% of the total U.S. stock market. This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, etoro review or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information.

The Russell 2000 Index

IG International Limited is part of the IG Group and its ultimate parent company is IG Group Holdings Plc. IG International Limited receives services from other members of the IG Group including IG Markets Limited. IG International Limited is licensed to conduct investment business and digital asset business by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of what investors should know about the Russell 2000 Index, how it works, and whether it could be a smart investment choice.

The remaining 1,000 companies are grouped in the Russell 1000 large-cap stock index. Unlike trading, investing in Russell 2000 stocks or ETFs would mean that you would pay the full value of your position upfront. However, because investments are not leveraged, your risk of loss would also be capped at this amount. For this reason, the Russell 2000 is known for being a reliable benchmark for investors of small publicly traded US companies, similar to the how the S&P 500 is for larger stocks. Investing in the Russell 2000 is a great way to get exposure to the exciting world of small-cap investing without relying too heavily on the performance of any single company.

You can invest in the index rather easily through a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to track it passively. In a nutshell, the Russell 2000 is composed of smaller and more volatile stocks than those in large-cap indexes. On the other hand, the large number of companies in the index helps to mitigate the risk since it’s less reliant on any particular stock’s performance. avatrade Stock markets are dynamic, and companies rise and fall in market cap over time, and new companies launch that deserve placement on the indexes. Of course, the best learning is by doing, too – which is why you can open a demo account with us, for free. Here, you can practise and perfect your Russell 2000 Index trading strategy in a risk-free environment with $20,000 in virtual funds.