Which index includes stock prices from approximately 5,000 companies?

The Wilshire 5000 index is designed to provide a comprehensive measure of the total stock market by including stock prices from roughly 5,000 publicly traded companies. It aims to capture the performance of all U.S.-based companies with publicly available stock, making it the broadest index in terms of the number of companies it represents.

This index is particularly valuable for investors seeking to understand the overall market performance, as it encompasses a wide range of sectors and industries. By tracking such a diverse array of companies, the Wilshire 5000 can give insights into the broader economic landscape and the collective performance of U.S. equities.

In contrast, the other indices mentioned have a narrower focus. The Dow Jones Industrial Index includes only 30 large, well-known companies, while the Standard and Poor 500 consists of 500 large-cap companies deemed to be representative of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite primarily tracks stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, which includes more than 3,000 companies but still falls short of the breadth of the Wilshire 5000. This makes the Wilshire 5000 the correct choice for capturing the stock prices of approximately 5,000 companies.