Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

WHO GETS THE FIRST PIECE OF SPACEX AND HOW BIG IS IT?

Morningstar's CRSP Total Market index could be the first to roll out the red carpet for SpaceX once it lands on public markets, said Jacob Friedman, lead investment manager at New York-based Focused Wealth Management.

That implies Vanguard could offer the first indirect exposure to Elon Musk's space behemoth, via its Total Stock Market Index Fund VTI.P that tracks the CRSP index, outpacing Invesco's QQQ QQQ.O that tracks the Nasdaq 100.

But how much exposure will investors actually get?

Not a lot, at least at first. The S&P 500, CRSP and the Russell 1000 all use float-adjusted market cap, so SpaceX's small float translates to a small weight, Friedman said.

He estimated that funds tracking the Nasdaq 100, such as QQQ, could put exposure to SpaceX somewhere between $240 and $360 for every $100,000 invested in the fund - the heftiest among other growth funds.

The exposure through Nasdaq-tracking funds is due to the Nasdaq's market cap calculation process, where low-float securities will be weighted at the lesser of their full listed market cap, or three times their float-adjusted value, depending on their float.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan said that constituents in an index experience weight reductions once a big one is added, and index-tracking funds rebalance to allocate more to the new entrant, which could result in outflows of billions of dollars in the "Magnificent Seven" cohort.

The fast-tracked entry into the CRSP will be the first of its kind, as the index introduced a liquidity screen based on float-adjusted market capitalization for early index entry, effective April 27, which SpaceX can clear by a wide margin.

Previously, companies required a public float of at least 12.5% of shares outstanding to qualify for fast-tracking into the CRSP. Friedman estimated that SpaceX will have a float between 3% and 4% when it debuts, which would have left it stranded.

(Purvi Agarwal)

*****

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

THE RISE AND REACH OF RETAIL TRADING IN US EQUITIES CLICK HERE

GASOLINE ALLEY: RETAIL SALES, JOBLESS CLAIMS, IMPORT PRICES CLICK HERE

NVIDIA, OTHER TECH SHARES GIVE WALL STREET AN EARLY BOOST CLICK HERE

TECH VS. HEALTHCARE: BOFA CLIENTS ROTATE AS EQUITY INFLOWS CONTINUE CLICK HERE

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT TARIFFS FOR CHINA-EU TRADE CLICK HERE

AS GOOD AS IT GETS? MARKETS UK GDP SURPRISE CLICK HERE

STOXX 600 ON THE RISE CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: BUILDING MOMENTUM CLICK HERE

AI RALLY POWERS ON, TRUMP-XI SUMMIT TAKES CENTRE STAGE CLICK HERE