BEL20

BEL20
base data
Country	Belgium
Stock exchange	Euronext Brussels
ISIN	BE0389555039
WKN	A0AEM4
symbol	BFX
RIC	^ BFX
Bloomberg code	BEL20 <INDEX>
category	Stock index
Type	Price index
family	Euronext

The BEL20 (Belgian 20 Index) is a share index on the Euronext stock exchange in Brussels . It includes 20 of the largest public limited companies in Belgium .

calculation

The BEL20 is technically a price index . As the name suggests, the index contains a maximum of 20 stocks that are listed on the NYSE Euronext multi-country exchange . The index level is determined solely on the basis of share prices and only adjusted for income from subscription rights and special payments. The calculation is updated every second during trading hours from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CET . The decisive criterion for inclusion is the market capitalization of the free float , whereby the free float should be at least 15 percent and is always rounded up in 5 percent steps in the calculation. If the free float is between 25 and 30 percent, for example, the latter value is included in the calculation as a weighting factor for the market capitalization.

history

Historical overview

BEL20 index 1990–2012

The BEL20 was first released on March 18, 1991. The base value is 1,000 points on December 31, 1990. On January 15, 1997, the leading Belgian index passed the 2,000-point mark for the first time with a closing level of 2,005.37 points and on March 24, 1998 with a closing level of 3,010.36 points for the first time the limit of 3,000 points. On January 6, 1999, the BEL20 closed at a record level of 3,681.92 points. That was an increase of 268.2 percent since December 1990.

After the speculative bubble burst in the technology sector ( dot-com bubble ), the share index fell to a low of 1,426.59 points by March 12, 2003. That was a decrease of 61.3 percent since January 1999. March 12, 2003 means the end of the downward slide. From the spring of 2003, the BEL20 began to rise again. On September 20, 2006, the stock market barometer closed at 4,021.99 points for the first time above the 4,000 point mark. On May 23, 2007, the share index ended trading at an all-time high of 4,756.82 points. Since the low in March 2003, the profit is 233.4 percent.

In the course of the international financial crisis , which had its origin in the US real estate crisis in the summer of 2007, the BEL20 began to decline again. On July 11, 2008, the index closed at 2,959.35 points, below the 3,000 point limit, and on October 16, 2008, at 1,946.38 points, below the 2,000 point mark. The index hit a new low on March 6, 2009, when it ended trading at 1,527.27 points. Since the all-time high of May 23, 2007, this corresponds to a decrease of 67.9 percent. It is the biggest fall in the history of the BEL20.

March 6, 2009 marks the turning point of the downward slide. From spring 2009, the share index was on the way up again. By February 17, 2011 it rose by 81.4 percent to a closing level of 2,770.81 points. The weakening of the global economy and the worsening of the euro crisis led to a slump in the Belgian benchmark index. On November 24, 2011, the BEL20 ended trading at 1,916.26 points. The loss since the high on February 17, 2011 is 30.9 percent.

The announcement of new bond purchase programs by the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve , which are basically unlimited, led to a recovery in prices on the stock market. The monetary stimulus played a bigger role in the price formation than the global economic slowdown and the state of the companies. On January 3, 2013, the index closed at 2,516.85 points, 31.4 percent higher than on November 24, 2011.

Highs

The overview shows the all-time highs of the BEL20.

	Points	date
in the course of trading	4,759.01	Wednesday May 23, 2007
on a closing price basis	4,756.82	Wednesday May 23, 2007

Milestones

The table shows the milestones of the BEL20.

First close over	Final score in points	date
1,000	1,000.00	December 31, 1990
1,500	1,509.67	January 19, 1994
2,000	2,005.37	January 15, 1997
2,500	2,504.47	July 7, 1997
3,000	3,010.36	March 24, 1998
3,500	3,533.02	July 1, 1998
4,000	4,021.99	September 20, 2006
4,500	4,507.29	February 2, 2007

Annual development

The table shows the annual development of the BEL20 since 1990.

year	Final score in points	Change in points	Change in%
1990	1,000.00
1991	1,029.72	29.72	2.97
1992	1,127.02	97.30	9.45
1993	1,473.10	346.08	30.71
1994	1,389.64	−83.46	−5.67
1995	1,559.63	169.99	12.23
1996	1,897.58	337.95	21.67
1997	2,419.34	521.76	27.50
1998	3,514.51	1,095.17	45.27
1999	3,340.43	−174.08	−4.95
2000	3,024.49	−315.94	−9.46
2001	2,782.01	−242.48	−8.02
2002	2,025.04	-756.97	−27.21
2003	2,244.18	219.14	10.82
2004	2,932.62	688.44	30.68
2005	3,549.25	616.63	21.03
2006	4,288.53	739.28	20.83
2007	4,127.47	−161.06	−3.76
2008	1,908.64	−2,218.83	−53.76
2009	2,511.62	602.98	31.59
2010	2,578.60	66.98	2.67
2011	2,083.42	−495.18	−19.20
2012	2,475.81	392.39	18.83
2013	2,923.82	448.01	18.10
2014	3,285.26	361.44	12.36
2015	3,700.30	415.04	12.63
2016	3,606.36	−93.94	−2.54
2017	3,977.88	371.52	10.30
2018	3,243.63	−734.25	−18.46

composition

The BEL20 consists of the following companies (as of May 29, 2020).

Surname	Branch	Index weighting in%	logo
Anheuser-Busch InBev	beverages	12.85
Ackermans & van Haaren	Finances	2.24
Aedifica	property	1.96
Ageas Holding	Insurance	4.78
Aperam	Steel industry	1.02
Argenx	pharmacy	6.79
Barco	electronics	1.34
Cofinimmo	property	2.52
Colruyt	retail trade	2.42
Galápagos	pharmacy	6.24
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert	Holding company	4.44
ING Group	Banking and finance	13.16
KBC Group	banks and insurance companies	10.74
Proximus	telecommunications	2.33
Sofina	Holding company	2.99
Solvay	chemistry	4.10
Telenet Group	Cable operator, telecommunications	1.37
UCB	pharmacy	9.16
Umicore	chemistry	6.97
WDP	property	2.58

Web links

• Index at Euronext
• Index at Bloomberg
• Index at Yahoo

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Stooq: Historical prices from 1991
2. ↑ ^{a b} Yahoo: Historical prices from 2005
3. ↑ 1Stock1: BEL 20 Index (Belgium) Yearly Returns
4. ↑ Euronext: BEL 20