The CAC 40 (French pronunciation: [kak kaʁɑ̃t]) (Cotation Assistée en Continu) is a benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant stocks among the 100 largest market caps on the Euronext Paris (formerly the Paris Bourse). It is a price return index. It is one of the main national indices of the pan-European stock exchange group Euronext alongside Euronext Amsterdam's AEX, Euronext Brussels' BEL20, Euronext Dublin's ISEQ 20, Euronext Lisbon's PSI-20 and the Oslo Bors OBX Index. It is an index without dividends. Cotation every working day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. It is updated every 15 seconds.

CAC 40
CAC 40 performance since 31 December 1987, linked to "indice Insee de la Bourse de Paris' from 1965 to 1987.
Foundation31 December 1987
OperatorEuronext
ExchangesEuronext Paris
Trading symbol
  • ^FCHI
Constituents40
TypeLarge cap
Market cap€2.356 trillion (3 February 2023)[1]
Weighting methodCapitalization-weighted
Related indicesCAC Next 20, CAC Small
Websitewww.euronext.com

History edit

The CAC 40 takes its name from the Paris Bourse's early automation system Cotation Assistée en Continu (Continuous Assisted Quotation). Its base value of 1,000 was set on 31 December 1987, equivalent to a market capitalisation of 370,437,433,957.70 French francs.[2] On 1 December 2003, the index's weighting system switched from being dependent on total market capitalisation to free float market cap only, in line with other leading indices.[3]

Rules edit

Selection edit

The CAC 40 index composition is reviewed quarterly by an independent Index Steering Committee (French: Conseil Scientifique).[2] If any changes are made, they are effected a minimum of two weeks after the review meeting.[2] At each review date, the companies listed on Euronext Paris are ranked according to free float market capitalisation and share turnover over the prior 12 months.[4] From the top 100 companies in this ranking, forty are chosen to enter the CAC 40 such that it is "a relevant benchmark for portfolio management" and "a suitable underlying asset for derivatives products".[4] If a company has more than one class of shares traded on the exchange, only the most actively traded of these will be accepted into the index (generally this will be the ordinary share).[4]

Weighting edit

The CAC 40 is a capitalization-weighted index. The number of shares issued (used to calculate the market cap and hence the index weight) of a company is reviewed quarterly, on the third Friday of March, June, September and December.[2] Since December 2003, the index weightings of companies in the index have been capped at 15% at each quarterly index review,[4] but these range freely with share price subsequently. A capping factor is used to limit the weights to 15% (if necessary), and is reviewed annually by the Index Steering Committee on the third Friday of September.[4]

Calculation edit

The index value I of the CAC 40 index is calculated using the following formula:[4]  with t the day of calculation; N the number of constituent shares in the index (usually 40); Qi,t the number of shares of company i on day t; Fi,t the free float factor of share i; fi,t the capping factor of share i (exactly 1 for all companies not subject to the 15% cap); Ci,t the price of share i on day t; Qi,0 the number of shares of company i on the index base date; Ci,0 the price of equity i on the index base date; and Kt the "adjustment coefficient for base capitalization" on day t (reflecting the switch from the French franc to the Euro in 1999).

Contract specifications edit

The CAC 40 index is traded as a future on the Euronext Equities & Index Derivatives (EUREID) exchange under the ticker symbol PIL.

Contract Specification[5]
CAC 40 (PIL)
Exchange: EUREID
Sector: Index
Tick Size: 0.5
Tick Value: 5 EUR
Big Point Value (BPV): 10
Denomination: EUR
Decimal Place: 1

Holders edit

Although the CAC 40 is almost exclusively composed of French-domiciled companies, about 45% of its listed shares are owned by foreign investors, more than any other main European index.[6] German, Japanese, American and British investors are amongst the most significant holders of CAC 40 shares. This large percentage is due to the fact that CAC 40 companies are more international, or multinational, than any other European market. CAC 40 companies conduct over two-thirds of their business and employ over two-thirds of their workforce outside France.[7]

Record values edit

Type Date Value
Closing high 15 March 2024 8,164.35
Intraday high 14 March 2024 8,218.07

Source:[8]

Annual returns edit

The following table shows the annual development of the CAC 40, which was calculated back to 1969.[9][10][11]

Year Closing level Change in Index
in Points
Change in Index
in %
1969 334.12
1970 310.48 −23.64 −7.08
1971 286.13 −24.35 −7.84
1972 335.18 49.05 17.14
1973 325.65 −9.53 −2.84
1974 225.45 −100.20 −30.77
1975 294.60 69.15 30.67
1976 244.50 −50.10 −17.01
1977 228.98 −15.52 −6.35
1978 335.53 106.55 46.53
1979 392.69 57.16 17.04
1980 422.39 29.70 7.56
1981 352.11 −70.28 −16.64
1982 352.82 0.71 0.20
1983 552.86 200.04 56.70
1984 640.01 87.15 15.76
1985 937.79 297.78 46.53
1986 1,403.51 465.72 49.66
1987 1,000.00 −403.51 −28.75
1988 1,573.94 573.94 57.39
1989 2,001.08 427.14 27.14
1990 1,517.93 −483.15 −24.14
1991 1,765.66 247.73 16.32
1992 1,857.80 92.14 5.22
1993 2,268.22 410.42 22.09
1994 1,881.15 −387.07 −17.06
1995 1,871.97 −9.18 −0.49
1996 2,315.73 443.76 23.71
1997 2,998.91 683.18 29.50
1998 3,942.66 943.75 31.47
1999 5,858.32 1,915.66 48.59
2000 5,926.42 68.10 1.16
2001 4,624.58 −1,301.84 −21.97
2002 3,063.91 −1,560.67 −33.75
2003 3,557.90 493.99 16.12
2004 3,821.16 263.26 7.40
2005 4,715.23 894.07 23.40
2006 5,541.76 826.53 17.53
2007 5,614.08 72.32 1.31
2008 3,217.97 −2,396.11 −42.68
2009 3,936.33 718.36 22.32
2010 3,804.78 −131.55 −3.34
2011 3,159.81 −644.97 −16.95
2012 3,641.07 481.26 15.23
2013 4,295.95 654.88 17.99
2014 4,272.75 −23.20 −0.54
2015 4,637.06 364.31 8.53
2016 4,862.31 225.25 4.86
2017 5,312.56 450.25 9.26
2018 4,730.69 −581.87 −10.95
2019 5,978.06 1,247.37 26.37
2020 5,551.41 −426.65 −7.68
2021 7,153.03 1,601.62 28.85
2022 6,473.76 −679.27 −9.50
2023 7,543.18 1,069.42 16.52

Composition edit

The index consists of the following companies as of the quarterly update effective November 2021.

The most recent composition can be found on the Euronext website.[12]

Company Sector GICS Sub-Industry Ticker
Air Liquide Basic Materials Industrial Gases AI.PA
Airbus Industrials Aerospace & Defense AIR.PA
Alstom Industrials Rail Transport ALO.PA
ArcelorMittal Basic Materials Steel MT.AS
AXA Financial Services Life & Health Insurance CS.PA
BNP Paribas Financial Services Diversified Banks BNP.PA
Bouygues Industrials Construction & Engineering EN.PA
Capgemini Technology IT Consulting & Other Services CAP.PA
Carrefour Consumer Defensive Hypermarkets & Super Centers CA.PA
Crédit Agricole Financial Services Regional Banks ACA.PA
Danone Consumer Defensive Packaged Foods & Meats BN.PA
Dassault Systèmes Technology Application Software DSY.PA
Edenred Industrials Transaction Processing Services EDEN.PA
Engie Utilities Gas Utilities ENGI.PA
EssilorLuxottica Healthcare Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods EL.PA
Eurofins Scientific Healthcare Biotechnologies ERF.PA
Hermès Consumer Cyclical Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods RMS.PA
Kering Consumer Cyclical Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods KER.PA
L'Oréal Consumer Defensive Personal Products OR.PA
Legrand Industrials Electrical Components & Equipment LR.PA
LVMH Consumer Cyclical Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods MC.PA
Michelin Industrials Tires & Rubber ML.PA
Orange Communication Services Integrated Telecommunication Services ORA.PA
Pernod Ricard Consumer Defensive Distillers & Vintners RI.PA
Publicis Communication Services Advertising PUB.PA
Renault Consumer Cyclical Automobile Manufacturers RNO.PA
Safran Industrials Aerospace & Defense SAF.PA
Saint-Gobain Industrials Building Products SGO.PA
Sanofi Healthcare Pharmaceuticals SAN.PA
Schneider Electric Industrials Electrical Components & Equipment SU.PA
Société Générale Financial Services Diversified Banks GLE.PA
Stellantis Consumer Cyclical Automobile Manufacturers STLAP.PA
STMicroelectronics Technology Semiconductors STMPA.PA
Teleperformance Communication Services Outsourcing TEP.PA
Thales Industrials Aerospace & Defense HO.PA
TotalEnergies Energy Integrated Oil & Gas TTE.PA
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Real Estate Retail REITs URW.PA
Veolia Industrials Multi-Utilities VIE.PA
Vinci Industrials Construction & Engineering DG.PA
Worldline Technology Data Processing & Outsourced Services WLN.PA

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "CAC 40". boursier.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "CAC 40 index profile". Euronext. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  3. ^ "CAC40 shift to free-float weighting: revision of free-float calculation and capping factors" (Press release). Euronext. 5 November 2003. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Rules for the CAC 40 Index" (PDF). Euronext. January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Historical CAC 40 Intraday Data (PIL)". PortaraCQG. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. ^ Chirac, Jacques (24 March 2006). "Press conference given by M. Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic, following the European Council (excerpts)". Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  7. ^ Lagarde, Christine (6 May 2006). ""France and Globalization": Lecture Given by Mme Christine Lagarde, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, to The Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Lille (excerpts)". Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  8. ^ "CAC 40 (^FCHI)". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ "RND". hec.unil.ch. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  10. ^ "CAC 40 Index (France) Yearly Stock Returns". 1stock1.com. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  11. ^ "CAC 40 (^FCHI) Historical Data – Yahoo Finance". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  12. ^ "CAC 40". Euronext.

External links edit