How Do I Read the New York Stock Exchange Reports?
According to Reuters, the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, is the largest stock exchange in the world. Whether you access NYSE stock information on the Internet or in the financial section of your local newspaper, NYSE reports can be confusing. Understanding the reports of NYSE-traded companies is the first step to grasping the daily trading activity of companies in this market, and it can help you decipher clues that could lead to investment success.
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Instructions
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Many financial sites display daily NYSE reports. Use the NYSE website at www.nyse.com, or a reliable financial portal such as Yahoo! Finance or MarketWatch's Bigcharts, or your local newspaper. Find the report for the NYSE by searching through the indices tab on an online site or in the index section of the financial pages of the newspaper.
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Find the index listing in your favorite newspaper. Find the price. This shows the current value of the index. Because an index represents a collection of representative investments, in this case stocks on the NYSE, this value represents a weighted average price of each security on the exchange. Larger companies are factored more heavily into the index than smaller firms are.
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Volume is a useful number when compared with recent activity. Understand volume. It's useful to compare the number of shares traded on a given day with activity on other days. Find a chart of NYSE activity over recent days on your chosen financial portal, and look for the volume line. Here you'll be able to compare today's number of trades with other days to see whether it's a heavy or light trading day. If it's a heavy day, you'll want to check the news for important information that affected the market.
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The change line will also show the percent change in the NYSE's value. Grasp the change-line data. This line on a NYSE report shows how many points this market has risen or fallen today. Unless you follow the number daily, this might not be helpful. Most sites and newspapers also include the percentage of rise or fall, which gives you a better snapshot of how the day's market performed.
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Differences between the previous close and open numbers could reflect world news. Look for the previous close and open lines. The previous close line displays the price where the NYSE market closed at the end of the last trading session. The open line shows where the market opened on the current day. Any difference between these two lines means market-influencing events occurred while the market was closed. This is data you might wish to explore.
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The day's range measures how volatile that day's market has been. Find the day's range line. This shows how volatile the market swings have been during the day. Comparing the day's range with the open price will indicate some of the NYSE's activity during trading hours.
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The 52-week range shows the last year's worth of market volatility. Explore the 52-week range line. The two numbers here show activity of the NYSE during the last 12 months. Comparing these numbers to the current price will give you a quick indication of the market's relative position versus trading over the last year.
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