It is getting full in the first German stock exchange league: More than 30 years after the start of the Dax, Deutsche Börse is implementing a historic expansion.
The DAX list is getting longer: From this Monday (September 20) on, 40 instead of 30 companies are playing in the first German stock market league. The ten climbers in the Deutsche Aktienindex – Dax for short – were named by Deutsche Börse at the beginning of September.
The leading index is intended to map the German economy more comprehensively, and companies must also meet stricter rules in order to belong to the Dax family.
Among the ten DAX newcomers, Airbus is by far the company with the largest market value. With the Franco-German aircraft manufacturer, the German benchmark index gets another heavyweight at the level of the automaker Daimler and the insurance giant Allianz.
Also new to the Dax are: the chemicals dealer Brenntag, the cooking box supplier Hellofresh, the holding company Porsche, the sporting goods manufacturer Puma, the biotechnology and diagnostics company Qiagen, the pharmaceutical and laboratory supplier Sartorius, the medical technology group Siemens Healthineers, the aroma and fragrance manufacturer Symrise and online Fashion retailer Zalando.
The reform of the Dax family a good 33 years after the Dax was launched on July 1, 1988, Deutsche Börse, as the operator of the Frankfurt market, decided last year after the Wirecard disaster.
For a long time, the most important German stock market barometer, the prices of which flicker into German living rooms every evening at prime TV broadcasting time, were dominated by the four sectors of chemicals, the automotive industry, energy and financial services. Now the mixture is supposed to be more balanced and, for example, secure a place in the shop window of the German economy for aspiring internet companies. Many of the DAX climbers expect a tailwind for their business.
In return, the MDax of the medium-sized values is reduced from 60 to 50 titles and thus loses its weight considerably. Five companies from the small cap index SDax will move up this Monday (September 20th) in the reduced MDax: the Vodafone transmission mast subsidiary Vantage Towers, the recycling specialist Befesa, the forklift manufacturer Jungheinrich, the financial services provider Hypoport and Zooplus, an online Pet supplies dealer.
In future, Deutsche Börse plans to regularly review the composition of the Dax twice instead of once a year. Only profitable companies should be included. Bankruptcy candidates and corporations who fail to comply with their duty to publish interim reports on time are said to have lost nothing in the first German stock market league.
The tightening of the rules for the Dax family is a reaction to the Wirecard scandal. The Munich-based payment service provider was able to stay in the Dax for months, despite billions in air bookings that were exposed in the summer of 2020, because the rules did not allow it to be expelled from the leading index quickly. There was also criticism that the food supplier Delivery Hero was promoted to the Dax for Wirecard and thus a company that has never made any money in day-to-day business since it was founded in 2011.
The inclusion of the ten additional companies has no impact on the current score of the Dax. The previous 30 members lose part of their weight in favor of the new members.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
