The DAX (Deutscher Aktien IndeX, formerly Deutscher Aktien-Index (German stock index)) is a blue chip stock market index consisting of the 30 major German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Prices are taken from the electronic Xetra trading system. According to Deutsche Börse, the operator of Xetra, DAX measures the performance of the Prime Standard’s 30 largest German companies in terms of order book volume and market capitalization.[2] It is the equivalent of the FT 30 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and because of its small selection it does not necessarily represent the vitality of the economy as whole.

The L-DAX Index is an indicator of the German benchmark DAX index’s performance after the Xetra electronic-trading system closes based on the floor trading at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The L-DAX Index basis is the “floor” trade (Parketthandel) at the Frankfurt stock exchange; it is computed daily between 09:00 and 17:30 Hours CET. The L-DAX index (Late DAX) is calculated from 17:30 to 20:00 CET. The Eurex, a European electronic futures and options exchange based in Zurich, Switzerland with a subsidiary in Frankfurt, Germany, offers options (ODAX) and Futures (FDAX) on the DAX from 08:00 to 22:00 CET.

The Base date for the DAX is 30 December 1987 and it was started from a base value of 1,000. The Xetra system calculates the index after every 1 second since January 1, 2006.