Nasdaq 100 Index
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- Metadoro first
And we have another record on Wall Street. One can hardly believe that only ten days have passed since the epic correction of October 10, with so many volatile moves in gold and crypto, and equity markets as well. However, the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 has made history again, setting its new all-time high above 25,200 points during the first hours of October 21. The benchmark index of 100 companies with huge market capitalization recovered so quickly thanks to investors' calmness regarding the Sino-American trade dispute and remarkable gains from Apple Co. The issue with a value of now about $4 trillion added nearly 4% in a single trading session this Monday to close the day at $262.24.
The climb provided Apple with the position of the second most valuable company in the world after AI-chip giant Nvidia, which is probably going to rise soon too. The fresh data from research firm Counterpoint confirmed that the iPhone 17 series outperformed its predecessor by 14% in early sales in both China and the U.S. This was a crucially positive sign amidst tariff concerns. Many reputable investment houses hastily added Apple to their list of potential outperformers prompting further potential to beat average market bets for the October-to-December quarter report, as the company is set to publish Q3 2025 report on October 30-31 night. Analysts especially noted the growing number of online orders in Asian countries, which was evidence of solid initial demand at launch already. In August, Apple pledged $100 billion in additional U.S. investment to sidestep tariffs damage, reviving the company's growth momentum. Google-parent Alphabet with $3 trillion of its market value also made a solid contribution hitting a new record high of $256.55 to cap 50% gains over the past four months.
Wall St sentiment also got a boost, when U.S. president Donald Trump said in a TV interview that his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea will go ahead later this month and the U.S. is "going to be fine with China". As we supposed a week before, he promoted the concept of a triple-digit tariffs on China that would not need to be implemented after November 1 or whenever. Besides, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted he expects to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this week, preventing an escalation regarding levies. Chinese sources say both sides held "constructive discussions" already.
By the way, even if the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 broad market indicators may slip some later after hitting fresh record highs, historical experience shows "no penalty for buying S&P 500" even at all-time highs, according to investigations of the Bank of America. They said in a client's note that investors should not fear buying U.S. equities at record levels, as “over the past fifty years, S&P 500 returns showed no penalty versus buying on any other occasion, and five years later there was on average a meaningful boost”. While “buying equities at all-time highs may feel like a mistake,” historical performance suggests otherwise. However, our team of analysts is banking on at least 7,000 for the S&P 500 accompanied by 28,000 as the next target for Nasdaq 100 futures by the end of the year. Both benchmarks are propelled by possible Federal Reserve interest rate cuts next week and then again in December together with a very strong earnings season. A major pullback would barely happen before then.
Nasdaq 100 Index
Being a pure tech index, it has some unique features:
- The NASDAQ index is heavily affected by market capitalisation of the companies, which have its stocks inside the index. Thus, corporates like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, NVidia, Tesla, and other tech giants’ stocks have a strong impact on index movements. Tech sector stocks are responsible for 50% of the market cap of the index, for 20% of the consumer sector and 10% of healthcare;
- The index is currently outrunning the S&P 500 index as it has risen by 80% above the latter over the last decade;
- The NASDAQ index is affected by the economic situation and data, including U.S. GDP, wages, investments, and retail sales. The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decisions have a significant impact on the index. Lower interest rates and easing monetary policy by the Fed have a positive effect on the index. All these developments should be monitored while investing in this asset;
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) indexes have a significant impact on the index. When inflation is far above the target at 2%, its increase is negative for the index, as it contributes to the monetary tightening by the Fed. Weak inflation below the target supports the index;
- The NASDAQ index is a risky asset, and is affected by risk appetite. But it has no major influence on the risk appetite itself as it is a sectoral index measuring the performance of tech stocks. The performance of the S&P 500 index and the CBOE Volatility index (VIX) should be monitored to understand risk appetite changes;
- Artificial Intelligence, and other specific tech stories exclusively affect the index. Bottlenecks in logistics and trade wars in high tech segments push the index down much stronger than the stock market in general;
- The index could be traded via CFD’s, futures, or designated ETF’s.
| Ticker | USTech100 |
| Contract value | 10 USD x USTech100 Index |
| Maximum leverage | 1:100 |
| Date | Short Swap (%) | Long Swap (%) | No data |
|---|
| Minimum transaction volume | 0.01 lot |
| Maximum transaction volume | 100 lots |
| Hedging margin | 50% |
| USD Exposure | Max Leverage Applied | Floating Margin |
|---|
