S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) price chart

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO) is an Australian stock market index, created and maintained by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). It tracks the value of the 200 largest public companies ranked by their market capitalisation, adjusted for the shares that are actually available on the market. The S&P/ASX 200 will increase if enough companies see their share prices rise, and fall when they are sold down.

If you’re studying the stock market’s return over time, don’t forget about dividends. The XJO index does NOT include dividends paid by companies. If you want a more complete picture of the performance of Australian shares, use the S&P/ASX 200 Net Total Return Index (INDEXASX: XNT) index.