Trade Germany 40 (Europe, Dax) - DE40 CFD

Germany 40

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The Germany 40, also known as the Deutscher Aktienindex or DAX, is a stock market index that reflects the performance of 40 largest and most liquid blue-chip German entities listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Deutsche Börse).

It’s a free-floating index covering the German companies with the largest market capitalisation and book value, representing approximately 80% of the aggregate Deutsche Börse’s market capitalisation. The prices used to calculate the index are provided by the electronic trading system Xetra.

The DAX 40 is a benchmark that is often viewed as a gauge for the health of the German economy.

Follow our DAX chart online to trace the ups and downs of the DE40 Index.

The DAX Index has two versions, called performance index and price index. The DAX TR or performance index, which measures total return, includes dividends paid by companies, while the DAX PR or price index does not include dividends in the calculation of the index.

The companies included in the DE40 Index are multinational businesses that influence both the domestic German and global economies. The index’s constituents span a wide range of industries. For example, Allianz SE (ALV) is a global financial services company that focuses on providing customers with insurance and asset management products. Bayer AG (BAYN) is a pharmaceutical and consumer health company that is well-known for its pain and allergy-relief products. Adidas AG (ADS) develops, manufactures and markets popular athletic apparel, footwear and equipment.

Companies trading on the German DAX are reviewed quarterly.

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The DE40 was established at the beginning of the 1980s but was officially published on 1 July 1988, with a base value of 1,000.

According to the historical DAX Index chart, over the decades of trade, the index has experienced lots of volatility, characterised by multiple price fluctuations.

Its first significant plunge happened on 16 October 1989, in the wake of the stock market crash on Wall Street. The German index shed about 13% of its value in a single day, followed by multiple steep losses.

Shortly after, DE30 gained an upside momentum, with its price steadily rising over the next decade and eventually peaking at 7,976 in March 2000. Around this time, enthusiasm for tech stocks started to fizzle out, with many investors running for the exit. The DAX slipped below 2,200 in March 2003, a low not seen since late 1995.

The global economy recovered, but it would take until the summer of 2007 for the Germany 40 Index to hit the record of 8,000 again after the year 2000. This climb ended during the infamous financial crisis of 2008. In October 2008, the DAX started dropping in value, and by 9 March 2009 it had dropped 56% from its 2007 highs.

In June 2014, after the European Central Bank decided to follow the policy of cheap money, the DAX soared to hit the 10,000-point mark for the first time.

In January 2018, the index surged to 13,559, however, it ended the year at 10,380. In February 2020, its value reached as high as 13,797. However, in March, the index’s price saw a steep decline, when it dropped as low as 8,441.

November 2020 saw the index undergo its largest overhaul ever, revealing that it would expand to 40 companies from its previous 30 and the criteria for membership would become much tougher. The shake up came in the wake of the Wirecard accounting scandal, which saw three top executives at Wirecard – which had been traded on the DAX – arrested on suspicion of masterminding a criminal racket to fake the company’s accounts and defraud creditors of billions of euros.

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