The Euro Stoxx Index and its respective size indices Euro Stoxx Large, Mid and Small, have been licensed to Eurex to serve as the basis for equity index futures and options.
This is the first time that these four indices are used as an underlying for equity index futures and options contracts.
The new derivatives will become available at the end of July 2010.
"The transparent and rules based methodology of the Euro Stoxx Index and its respective size indices make them ideal instruments to measure the performance of the leading large, mid or small cap companies in the Euro-zone. By licensing these four indices, Eurex complements their existing offering of pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 derivatives," says Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx.
The Euro Stoxx Index was launched on 15 June 1998. A subset of the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, it represents approximately 300 small capitalization companies in the following 12 Euro zone countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The index is weighted by free float adjusted market capitalization, and each component’s weight is capped at 20 per cent of the index’s total free-float market capitalization.
The Euro Stoxx size indices were launched on 11 October 1999. The Euro Stoxx Large Index comprises approximately 100 large capitalisation companies from the Euro Stoxx Index, while the Euro Stoxx Mid and Euro Stoxx Small indices comprise approximately 100 mid and small capitalisation companies each, respectively.
The Euro Stoxx Index and its respective size indices are available in price and net return versions, and are calculated in euro and US dollars. The indices are reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December.
