Nasdaq is the best performing financial exchange stock YTD

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The S&P 500 financials sector has largely kept pace with the broader market in 2025, rising about +14% year to date.

Financials rank as the fourth-best performing sector in the S&P 500 (SP500 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]).

As we look at the sub-sectors within the broader financial sector, below is a list of the top 10 Financial Exchanges and Data stocks ranked by their YTD performance. The ranking includes each company’s Quant rating.

The list is topped by Nasdaq (NDAQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NDAQ]), with a YTD performance of +26.06%. CME Group (CME [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CME]) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ICE]) are next, with Moody’s (MCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MCO]) and S&P Global (SPGI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPGI]) rounding out the rest of the top five. All five of these companies have posted positive YTD returns.

At the bottom end of the ranking, several stocks show negative YTD performance. Morningstar (MORN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MORN]) ranks last with a YTD decline of -35.63%, while MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MKTX]) and Tradeweb Markets (TW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TW]) also posted significant losses.

Here is the list:

*
Nasdaq (NDAQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NDAQ]), YTD Perf: +26.06%, Quant Rating: Hold (3.36) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NDAQ/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
CME Group (CME [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CME]), YTD Perf: +17.64%, Quant Rating: Hold (2.97) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CME/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ICE]), YTD Perf: +8.35%, Quant Rating: Sell (2.46) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ICE/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
Moody’s (MCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MCO]), YTD Perf: +7.66%, Quant Rating: Hold (3.33) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MCO/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
S&P Global (SPGI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPGI]), YTD Perf: +4.79%, Quant Rating: Hold (3.36) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPGI/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
Coinbase Global (COIN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN]), YTD Perf: -0.16%, Quant Rating: Hold (2.89) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
MSCI (MSCI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MSCI]), YTD Perf: -3.89%, Quant Rating: Hold (3.15) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MSCI/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
Tradeweb Markets (TW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TW]), YTD Perf: -18.84%, Quant Rating: Sell (2.15) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TW/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MKTX]), YTD Perf: -19.85%, Quant Rating: Sell (2.20) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MKTX/ratings/quant-ratings]

*
Morningstar (MORN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MORN]), YTD Perf: -35.63%, Quant Rating: Sell (1.80) [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MORN/ratings/quant-ratings]

Financials ETFs: (XLF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLF]), (VFH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/VFH]), (IYF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IYF]), (FNCL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FNCL]), (IYG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IYG]), and (FXO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXO])

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