The DAX (Deutscher Aktienindex) is Germany's primary stock market index, tracking the 40 largest blue-chip companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and serving as the country's equivalent of the UK's FTSE 100 or the US Dow Jones Industrial Average. Launched on 30 December 1987 with a base value of 1,000, the index is now calculated every second via the Xetra trading system. In response to the Wirecard accounting scandal, Deutsche Börse announced in November 2020 that it would expand the index from 30 to 40 members, a change that took effect in the third quarter of 2021. The DAX comes in two versions—a performance index measuring total return and a price index—and features extended-hour trading through the L-DAX and L/E-DAX, while futures and options are traded on the Eurex exchange. A notable milestone was reached on 16 March 2015, when the performance index first closed above the 12,000-point mark. However, despite its prominence, the index's narrow selection of large companies means it doesn't fully represent the vitality of the broader German economy.