The IBEX 35® celebrates its 25th anniversary
- It has become the national and international benchmark of the Spanish Stock Exchange and it has become the underlying asset for a multitude of financial products
- Since its creation in 1992, its return has reached 255% and its average yearly return 6.82%
Tomorrow, Saturday January 14th, the IBEX 35© will celebrate its 25th anniversary, following its debut on the same date in January 1992 and coinciding with the birth in Spain of the Options and Futures market. This index is weighted by market capitalisation and is made up of the 35 most liquid companies listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange. During this period it has become the national and international benchmark of the Spanish stock market and has served as an underlying asset for a multitude of financial products.
The IBEX 35© has two functions: to reflect the behavior of the Spanish stock market and to serve as the underlying asset in the trading, clearing and settlement of Options and Futures contracts linked to it.
Back then the 35 constituents of the IBEX represented - and still represent - 90% of the cash traded on the Spanish Stock Exchange, making the sample sufficiently representative of the market and allowing the index to gauge the performance of the stock market for the last 25 years.
During this prolonged period of time, the Spanish stock market benchmark has reflected all kinds of situations in Spain and beyond. The return on the index between its first trading session - when it closed at 2,676.12 basis points – and today’s level - around 9,500 - is 255%, leaving an average yearly return for the period of 6.82%. It marked its lowest level in its first year, specifically on 5 October 1992, at 1,873.58 and it reached its highest level on 8 November 2007, when it closed at 15,945.70 basis points.
The dividend is again a decisive and important factor when assessing the return on investment in the Spanish Stock Market in recent years. Thus, between 15 January 1992 and the same date of 2017, the value of the IBEX 35© has multiplied by about 3.5 times, compared with almost 9 times if the dividends paid in the 25 year-period by its constituents are reinvested. These figures represent an index average yearly return of 9.16% for the IBEX 35 Total Return.
During these 25 years of the IBEX 35© the most bullish year was 1993, when its return was 54.20%, followed by 1996 when it rose 41.97%, while the worst annual yearly results were in 2008 with a 39.43% decrease and 2002, when it lost 28.11%. Regarding the daily variations, the most bullish day of the IBEX 35© was on 10 May 2010, with a rise of 14.43%, following a raft of measures on the euro taken by European institutions. The largest decline occurred on June 24, 2016 with a fall of 12.35% as a consequence of Brexit.
The weight of the six sectors in the IBEX 35© in the 25 years that are commemorated has changed significantly to three while after such a long time the rest maintain the same weighting levels. Oil and Energy is the group that loses the most weight, going from 36.4% in 1992 to the current 19.4%, with consumption groups (goods and services) being the ones posting strong growth rates - Consumer Goods increasing from 3% In 1992 to 14.6% at present, and Consumer Services growing from 2.5% at the start to 9.1% in 2017.
The IBEX 35© index family has not stopped growing in recent years, and thus since July 2005, when the Ibex Medium Cap and the Ibex Small Cap were created, 48 new indices have been created to offer the investor a broad range of investment strategies.
The IBEX 35© provides an exceptional showcase for its constituents and a source of financing, while also offering them visibility and acting as an symbol of prestige and image in Spain, and most importantly, beyond its borders.
During this period, the IBEX 35© has demonstrated its solidity, adaptability and resistance over the years and has become a reliable indicator of the economy and a benchmark for investment.
