NASDAQ Historical Data
Over 50 years of NASDAQ Composite price history. Pick any date range to see real returns, drawdowns, and year-by-year performance.
Figures below are price-only and exclude dividends (reinvesting dividends has added roughly 0.8 percentage points per year to the NASDAQ Composite's CAGR over the trailing decade — much smaller than the S&P 500's gap).
Portfolio Growth Jan 8, 1974 – Jan 8, 1979
Showing growth of $10,000 invested in the NASDAQ Composite.
Annual Returns
| Year | Start Price | End Price | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | $117.84 | $121.92 | +3.46% |
| 1978 | $104.00 | $117.98 | +13.44% |
| 1977 | $97.69 | $105.05 | +7.53% |
| 1976 | $78.06 | $97.88 | +25.39% |
| 1975 | $60.70 | $77.62 | +27.87% |
| 1974 | $94.02 | $59.82 | -36.38% |
About This NASDAQ Data
This tool uses daily closing prices for the NASDAQ Composite index (^IXIC) going back to 1971, updated automatically each trading day. The NASDAQ Composite tracks nearly every stock listed on the Nasdaq exchange, which skews heavily toward technology and growth companies — that makes it more volatile than the broader S&P 500, with sharper rallies and deeper crashes, most notably the dot-com bubble of 2000–2002.
Like the S&P 500's price index, this is a price-only series and excludes dividends. Since many NASDAQ constituents are growth stocks that pay little or no dividend, the gap between price-only and total return is historically much smaller here than for the S&P 500 — roughly 0.8 percentage points per year over the trailing decade (comparing the NASDAQ Composite Total Return index to this price-only series), versus 3–4pp for the S&P 500.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the NASDAQ's worst crash?
The dot-com crash of 2000–2002 was by far the worst, with the index falling roughly 78% from its March 2000 peak and taking 15 years to reclaim that high. Set the date range to 2000–2002 above to see the exact figures.
How does the NASDAQ compare to the S&P 500?
The NASDAQ Composite is far more concentrated in technology and growth stocks, which has historically meant higher long-term returns alongside sharper drawdowns. Use the portfolio comparison tool to see both indices side by side over the same period.
What if I'd invested at the 2000 dot-com peak?
Set the start date to March 2000 and the end date to today to see the exact total return — a useful reminder of how long a concentrated, growth-heavy index can take to recover from a valuation bubble.
Does this include dividends?
No, the raw data is price-only. The gap this creates versus a total-return figure is roughly 0.8 percentage points per year over the trailing decade — much smaller than the S&P 500's ~3–4pp gap, since many large NASDAQ-listed growth companies pay little or no dividend.