CAC 40

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 operates 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.
Foundation	31 December 1987
Operator	Euronext
Exchanges	Euronext Paris
Trading symbol	^FCHI
Constituents	40
Type	Large cap
Market cap	€2.356 trillion (3 February 2023)[1]
Weighting method	Free-float capitalization-weighted
Related indices	CAC Next 20, CAC Small
Website	www.euronext.com

History

The CAC 5 and the CAC 40 take their name from the Paris Bourse's early automation system Cotation Assistée en Continu (Continuous Assisted Quotation). CAC 5, inaugurated on 23 June 1986, was a version of the Toronto Computer Assisted Trading System, the first fully automated trading system. ^[2] CAC 5 consisted of Leroy-Somer, LVMH, Synthélabo, Eurocom and UCB.^[3] CAC 40's base value of 1,000 was set on 31 December 1987, equivalent to a market capitalisation of 370,437,433,957.70 French francs.^[4] 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.^[5]

Rules

Selection

The CAC 40 index composition is reviewed quarterly by an independent Index Steering Committee (French: Conseil Scientifique).^[4] If any changes are made, they are effected a minimum of two weeks after the review meeting.^[4] 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.^[6] 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".^[6] 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).^[6]

Weighting

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.^[4] Since December 2003, the index weightings of companies in the index have been capped at 15% at each quarterly index review,^[6] 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.^[6]

Calculation

The index value I of the CAC 40 index is calculated using the following formula:^[6] ${\displaystyle I_{t}=1000\times {\frac {\sum _{i=1}^{N}Q_{i,t}\,F_{i,t}\,f_{i,t}\,C_{i,t}\,}{K_{t}\,\sum _{i=1}^{N}Q_{i,0}\,C_{i,0}\,}}}$ with t the day of calculation; N the number of constituent shares in the index (usually 40); Q_i,t the number of shares of company i on day t; F_i,t the free float factor of share i; f_i,t the capping factor of share i (exactly 1 for all companies not subject to the 15% cap); C_i,t the price of share i on day t; Q_i,0 the number of shares of company i on the index base date; C_i,0 the price of equity i on the index base date; and K_t the "adjustment coefficient for base capitalization" on day t (reflecting the switch from the French franc to the Euro in 1999).

Contract specifications

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

Contract Specification^[7]

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

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

Record values

Type	Date	Value
Closing high	15 May 2024	8,239.99
Intraday high	10 May 2024	8,259.19

Source:^[10]

Annual returns

The following table shows the annual development of the CAC 40, which was calculated back to 1969.^[11][12][13]

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
2024	7,380.74	−162.44	-2.15

Composition

The index consists of the following companies as of the quarterly update effective September 2024.

The most recent composition can be found on the Euronext website.^[14]

Company	Sector	GICS Sub-Industry	Ticker
Accor	Consumer Services	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure	AC.PA
Air Liquide	Basic Materials	Industrial Gases	AI.PA
Airbus	Industrials	Aerospace & Defense	AIR.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
Vivendi	Communication Services	Movies & Entertainment	VIV.PA

See also

• Category:CAC 40
• CAC Next 20
• List of French companies
• List of largest French companies