"Many industries are economically dependent on temperature fluctuations. Up to now, however, there was no generally accessible and transparent database at European level that could be used to identify weather-related risks," said Christoph Lammersdorf, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse. "The weather indices provide an important basis for this."
Deutsche Börse's calculation of the weather indices further expands its competence as a provider of market information. In addition to data for the European equity, bond and derivatives markets, the company calculates and disseminates market data for the European Energy Exchange and now also weather data. "The Information Products Division of Deutsche Börse is thus developing further into becoming the central provider of information for the financial and commodities markets," as Lammersdorf put it.
The Xelsius weather indices measure the deviation in the daily average temperature from a reference temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. The weather risks for certain sectors rise or fall, depending on how far these measurement data deviate from the reference temperature. Days with an average temperature under 18 degrees Celsius are referred to as Heating Degree Days (HDD); days with an average temperature above 18 degrees Celsius are called Cooling Degree Days (CDD).
The basis for the weather indices are the daily highs and lows in 30 European cities. The German Meteorological Service (DWD) records these data, calculates an average temperature and transmits these data to Deutsche Börse, which calculates the indices on this basis. The indices are calculated on a daily, monthly and seasonal basis. Seasons are defined as the period from October 1 to March 31 (winter season) and from April 1 to September 30 (summer season). Historical data are available for five German cities up to the year 1969, for the other 25 cities, up to the year 1977.
The indices can be called up via the Internet page www.xelsius.com.
