FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After a year of continuity in the Dax, Lufthansa was able to return to the leading German index in March. At least that is what index experts Carolin Raab and Maximilian Uleer from Deutsche Bank expect. Luca Thorißen, index expert at Stifel, is skeptical. He does not currently expect a change in the coming month.

Last year, the airline missed out on promotion. Now a new opportunity could present itself, but it cannot succeed on its own. The current free float value of 7.7 billion euros is not sufficient for this. However, the weakness of the Zalando share price could play into the hands of the MDax company, according to Deutsche Bank.

On Tuesday, March 5, Deutsche Borse will again regularly review the indices of the Dax family, consisting of the leading index, the MDax, SDax and TecDax, and announce the results in the evening after the US stock exchange closes. Any changes will come into effect on Monday, March 18.

The regular review, which takes place twice a year for the Dax, in March and September, is less strict for non-members and stricter for members compared to the extraordinary "fast-entry" and "fast-exit" review.

Fashion retailer Zalando was already the smallest DAX stock in 2023 and has lost even more ground as a result of the recent downturn. In the still young year, it has already lost 10 percent. The freely tradable market capitalization currently amounts to 4.2 billion euros. However, Thorißen believes that Zalando is recovering. The gap to 48th place, which would mean a relegation from the DAX, is currently getting bigger, he says.

Such changes are particularly important for funds that replicate indices in real terms (physically replicating ETFs). They then have to be rebalanced accordingly, which can have an impact on share prices./ck/ngu/he