Unfortunately, the GOOGLEFINANCE formula in Google Sheets is not easy to use with stock market indices, such as the S&P 500. A little bit of detective work is required to get index quotes using Google Finance. First you must know who publishes the index and then you must know Google’s ticker for that index. Sometimes, such as in the case of the S&P 500, Google does not use the industry-standard tickers we are all familiar with (SPX).
How To Find The Google Finance Ticker For The S&P 500?
Step 1: Search Google for the S&P 500.
Step 2: Note Google’s code for the index provider and Google’s ticker for the index in the result.
Step 3: Copy and paste this into the Google Finance formula using this format: INDEX PROVIDER: INDEX SYMBOL.
Step 4: The final result: GOOGLEFINANCE("<span class="EFkvDd">INDEXSP:</span><span class="WuDkNe">.INX")</span>
How Do I get Real-Time SPX Quotes?
Google Finance delays their quotes by up to 20 minutes, depending on the symbol. You also can’t control when Google refreshes the data. If you need real-time data, Market Data’s INDEXDATA formula will provide you with a real-time S&P 500 quote and give you control over how often that data updates.
How Do I Get Historical Intraday S&P 500 Data With Google Finance?
Unfortunately, you can’t get intraday data with Google Finance. If you need intraday S&P 500 data, you can use Market Data’s Add-On and get candles down to 1 minute. Learn how to use INDEXDATA in our online tutorial.
Is There An Easier Way To Get Index Quotes?
Yes! Market Data’s Sheets Add-On provides Google Sheets users an easy formula called INDEXDATA that has exactly the same syntax as the Google Finance formula, except the symbols are much easier! You can use the standard index symbols without leading or trailing index identifiers and you don’t need to guess at the index provider either. So, to get an S&P 500 index quote, you’d just use =INDEXDATA("SPX").
INDEXDATA can be used to get both real-time and historical intraday data down to the minute. Best yet, you can use Market Data free forever if you only need 100 real-time quotes per day.
