The
Swiss Market Index (SMI) is
Switzerland's
blue-chip stock market index, which makes it the most important in the country. It is made up of twenty of the largest and most
liquid SPI large- and mid-cap
stocks. As a price index, the SMI is not adjusted for
dividends, but a performance index that takes account of such distributions is available (the SMIC - SMI Cum Dividend).
The SMI was introduced on 30 June 1988 at a baseline value of 1500 points. Its composition is examined once a year. Calculation takes place in real-time: as soon as a new transaction occurs in a security contained in the SMI, an updated index level is calculated and displayed.
The securities contained in the SMI currently represent more than 90% of the entire
market capitalisation, as well as of 90% trading volume, of all Swiss and Liechtenstein equities listed on the
SIX Swiss Exchange. Because the SMI is considered to be a mirror of the overall Swiss stock market, it is used as the underlying index for numerous
derivative financial instruments such as
options,
futures and
index funds (e.g.
ETF).
Rules
Acceptance criteria
To be accepted into the SMI, a given issue must meet stringent requirements with regard to liquidity and
market capitalisation. On one hand, it must represent at least 50% of the average liquidity of the SPI constituent issues and, on the other, have a minimum free-float capitalisation equal to 0.45% or more of the entire SPI capitalisation. Moreover, trading volume and...
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