STOXX Europe 50 is European stock index, determined by the Deutsche Börse Group and SIX Group. It was introduced in 1998. The index includes shares of 50 companies from 18 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The index is weighted quarterly to track the stock prices of the most developed companies in Europe. It includes companies in the banking, oil, automobile and other industries. The index indicates the state of the leading European companies. The STOXX Europe 50 accounts for 60% of the total market capitalization of listed European companies whose shares are freely traded.