What is the Euro Stoxx 50 Index?

Euro Stoke 50 the index is the leading blue-chip index for the Eurozone. It includes leading companies in a wide range of industries and 50 stocks from the following 11 euro zone countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, portugal and Spain.

Where have you heard about the Euro Stoxx 50 Index?

As an investor, you are probably familiar with the creation of the Euro Stoxx 50 Index in 1998 and its subsequent role in gauging sentiment in the euro zone's equity markets. Your financial advisor may believe that the Euro Stoxx 50 index investment is an effective way to invest in large companies in the single currency area.

What you need to know about the Euro Stoxx 50 Index...

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index is compiled by Stoxx, an index provider wholly owned by Deutsche Börse, Germany's leading stock exchange. Unlike similar European indices compiled by Dow Jones, the Euro Stoxx 50 Index only includes companies from countries that use the euro as a currency.

That is, the index does not include UK companies.

Financial services companies can use the Euro Stoxx 50 Index with permission to build products that track the index, which can also be used by fund managers as a benchmark against which to measure their performance. Companies covered by the index include Total, Allianz, Siemens, Daimler and Adidas.