CAC 40

    By
    Andrey Orlov
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    The Cotation Assistée en Continu (CAC 40) is an index that represents the top 40 French companies listed on the Paris stock exchange.

    The CAC 40 was established in 1987 with a base index value of 1000 points. The index represents a capitalisation weighted measure without dividends. The calculation is updated every second during the trading day between 09.00 and 17.30 Central European Time.

    The CAC 40 has an influence on the forex market because France is the second-largest economy in the eurozone and the CAC 40 reflects the overall financial industry in France.

    The composition of the CAC 40 is reviewed quarterly by the Conseil Scientifique. The top 100 companies that are listed on the Euronext Paris are chosen according to a free float market capitalisation and order book turnover over the previous 12 months. From these, 40 are selected for listing by the CAC 40 according to two further criteria:

    1. They must be “a relevant benchmark for portfolio management”.
    2. They must be “a suitable underlying asset for derivatives products”.

    If the company is a conglomerate and trading more than one class of share, the most actively traded class will be accepted.

    Although most of the companies in the CAC 40 are French, approximately 45% of the listed companies’ shares are owned by foreign investors. This is a higher percentage than every other European index and is derived from the high amount of multinational or international companies listed in the CAC 40.