Indices are used to track the performance of a basket of securities. For example, if you are trading indices from the stock exchange index, which comprises of several stocks, then you are essentially opening positions on several stocks at once. This is immediately a more economical and less stressful way to diversify your investment portfolio across different sectors and trade in a basket of stocks. For this reason, when you are trading indices, it is not necessary to analyse each company, as an index is made up of several companies providing a more accurate picture of how a country’s economy is fairing. In this respect, instead of trading individual shares, you are trading a basket of shares through an index, diversifying your exposure and hedging against unpredictable fluctuations triggered by economic news’ updates.