Euronext Amsterdam's AEX blue chip index breaks 900-point mark for the first time

The AEX Index on the Amsterdam stock market broke the 900-point barrier for the first time in history on Tuesday. The main index, which consists of the 25 largest companies on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, set a new record when it reached the 900.00 euro mark at around 3:10 p.m.

The index started the day with a rally from Monday's closing of 891.13, which was the highest closing ever. The level stood at 898.37 at 4:07 p.m., with trading set to close at 5:30 p.m. Seen as a key indicator of the Amsterdam stock exchange, the AEX Index has made significant progress this year. It started 2024 at 786.82 points.

The positive mood on the stock markets is partly caused by the expectation that central banks will start lowering interest rates in 2024. Optimism about the rise of applications in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is also driving the share prices of the major players in that field. In addition, the economy is performing better than expected, despite the previous sharp interest rate increases by central banks to tackle inflation.

The Dutch computer chip industry companies ASMI and ASML have risen sharply this year on expectations of strong demand for powerful chips that can be used in AI applications. ASMI increased in value by more than 30 percent this year, and ASML by about 25 percent. Industry peer Besi is lagging behind with a share price loss of approximately 7 percent this year. Other large AEX companies, such as ING, Shell and Unilever, have also shown strong returns so far.

In 2021, the AEX managed to break the 800-point barrier for the first time. On January 24 this year, the Index returned above that level for the first time since the beginning of 2022, and on February 6, the Index broke the closing record from November 2021. When it was founded in 1983, the level of the AEX was 100 points, which was still in guilders at the time. Converted into euros, the starting level was 45.38 points.

During the height of the internet boom at the beginning of this century, the AEX broke the 700-point barrier for the first time. However, the price fell sharply after the internet bubble burst, and the AEX reached a low of 218.44 points in March 2003.

In the years after 2003, the Index recovered to a peak of 560 points in 2008, just before the devastating financial crisis. The low point of the credit crisis was reached on March 9, 2009, with the AEX having fallen to 194.99 points. On February 17, 2020, just before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic reached the Netherlands, the AEX was trading at more than 630 points.

But by March 18, the AEX had lost more than a third of its value, falling to 404 points. The AEX Index began its upward climb again in November 2020, after Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were announced, and the losses during the pandemic were fully recovered by March 2021. The Index trended downward for a year starting that November, and has been steadily on the rise again since November 2023.