CAC 40

Definition

The CAC 40 is a benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant values among the 100 highest market caps on the Euronext Paris. It is one of the main national indices of the pan-European stock exchange group Euronext alongside Brussels’ BEL20, Lisbon’s PSI-20 and Amsterdam’s AEX.


CAC 40

What is ‘CAC 40’

The French stock market index that tracks the 40 largest French stocks based on market capitalization on the Paris Bourse (stock exchange).

Explaining ‘CAC 40’

The CAC 40 is used as a benchmark index for funds investing in the French stock market and also gives a general idea of the direction of the Paris Bourse. The CAC 40 is similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average in that it is the most commonly used index that represents the overall level and direction of the market in France. At the time of writing (Aug 2005), the CAC 40 included such companies as Renault, Michelin, L’Oreal and Vivendi Universal.

Further Reading

  • Corporate social responsibility, financial instability and corporate financial performance: linear, non-linear and spillover effects–The case of the CAC 40 companies – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
  • Outliers and GARCH models in financial data – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
  • Chief Executive Officer attributes, board structures, gender diversity and firm performance among French CAC 40 listed firms – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
  • The liquidity effects of revisions to the CAC40 stock index – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Price clustering in the CAC 40 index options market – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Detecting anchoring in financial markets – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Tax havens and transfer pricing intensity: Evidence from the French CAC-40 listed firms – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Scaling transformation and probability distributions for financial time series – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
  • European stock market comovement dynamics during some major financial market turmoils in the period 1997 to 2010–a comparative DCC-GARCH and wavelet … – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Corporate governance efficiency and internet financial reporting quality – www.emerald.com [PDF]