SMI Index

The SMI is Switzerland’s blue-chip index and is made up of the 20 Swiss companies with the highest liquidity, which are also the same as the 20 largest companies from the SPI. In total, the companies listed in the SMI represent around 85 percent of the entire market capitalization traded on the Swiss share market. For this reason, the SMI is considered to be a mirror of the overall Swiss share market. Like the Dow Jones, the SMI is a price index. Consequently, the index level represents the average of the shares contained in it. Dividend payments are not considered in the index. The index is also published as a dividend-corrected performance index under the name SMIC.

In order to be included in the SMI, a share must fulfill certain criteria. Securities listed in the SMI must show high market capitalization and a high trading volume. Market capitalization and trading volume are weighted equally and a ranking list is drawn up from the securities included in the SPI on the basis of these two criteria. The highest ranked securities are included in the SMI.

The composition of the SMI is reviewed twice annually and adjusted when necessary. The adjustments are always made on the third Friday in March and September after the close of trading.

The SMI is traded each trading day between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm; the index level is calculated once a second in real time. The closing auction takes place at 5:20 pm. Pre-opening takes place between 6:00 am and 9:00 am. Trading during pre-opening serves to determine the theoretical opening share price; orders are collected during this time but are not yet transacted. Post-trading takes place between 5:30 pm and 10:00 pm, during which time orders can be entered, but not yet transacted.