DAX Index Watch Hurdel 11,990, If Hold and Close Below Free Fall Rally Start
The German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse <DB1Gn.DE>, which compiles the index, made the announcement late on Wednesday. The change takes affect on Sept. 24.
Commerzbank’s exit from the benchmark index paves the way for the entry of Wirecard <WDIG.DE>, a payments company founded in 1999 whose market value is now double that of Commerzbank.
Deutsche Boerse periodically reassesses the composition of the index using trading data to measure market value and trading volume as a basis for deciding which companies to include. It also announced a shakeup of the composition of three key indexes that affects technology stocks.
Commerzbank, the nation’s second-largest lender, was one of 30 founding members of the DAX in 1988.
The bank’s expulsion had been widely expected, with its shares down 32 percent this year and a market capitalisation of 10.6 billion euros.
But it is still a blow for the 148-year-old bank that dominates Frankfurt’s skyline. It comes days after its larger crosstown rival Deutsche Bank learned it would be expelled from the Eurostoxx 50 index of leading European stocks.
“It shows the extent to which German banks have fallen behind other industrial companies in Germany and Europe,” said Klaus Nieding of shareholder lobby group DSW.
