Education
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What Can You Build With an Index?
At 4pm regular trading ends for many assets. Financial systems keep running through the night, creating constant demand for live market data.
4 PM closes a session, not the market
For many assets, 4 PM marks the end of a regular trading session. The market itself continues.
Futures trade overnight. Global venues open in other time zones. News keeps moving.
Financial applications, risk systems, and trading platforms continue operating after the closing bell.
The challenge is simple: when the underlying market closes, where does an application get a usable price?
An index keeps an asset usable
An index combines prices from relevant venues through a defined methodology. It turns those inputs into a continuous product that applications can use across the day.
Pyth Indices are built for this purpose. Each index has a defined asset or basket, a published methodology, and pricing designed to continue beyond the hours of a single venue.
That gives institutions a way to work with assets that have traditionally been available only during limited market sessions.
What can you build with an index?
An institution can use an index as the pricing layer for:
Trading products that need to operate outside regular market hours
Derivatives and perpetual markets linked to equities, commodities, or thematic baskets
Portfolio and risk applications that monitor exposure across time zones
Financial products that give users continuous access to an asset or basket
Custom indices designed around a specific market, sector, or investment theme
The index is the common layer between the market data and the product built on top of it.
Start with the product you want to build
The right index depends on the application.
An exchange may need continuous pricing for a new trading product. A fund issuer may want a custom thematic basket. A financial platform may need to show global exposure after local markets close.
The Pyth app gives institutions a place to explore available indices, review their coverage, and identify the right starting point. From there, teams can integrate an existing index or discuss a custom build.
The market does not stop at 4pm. An index gives institutions a way to keep building after the regular session ends.
