MUMBAI, India, Aug. 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, will launch The Global Dow, an index whose components are selected by the editors of The Wall Street Journal.
The launch of this new icon was unveiled today by Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation in Mumbai, India. Dow Jones Indexes is a business unit of Dow Jones & Company, a News Corporation company (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV).
Mr. Murdoch said: "The world is changing and how we measure that change economically and financially is clearly a challenge and an opportunity. We have seen a reweighting of risk around the world, but the world itself is being economically rerated and so we need an index that allows investors to take advantage of these changes. Indian companies will obviously have a place in The Global Dow as will companies from other emerging countries where we have seen an unprecedented economic emancipation over the past two decades."
Robert Thomson, managing editor, The Wall Street Journal said, "While we must reflect the global stock market as it is, we must also recognize the rapid rise of companies in countries such as India. We have already seen great Indian companies acquiring famous brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover, but these developments are just the beginning of a long-term trend that will fundamentally change the international corporate landscape. As with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the component choices for the new index will be based on the editorial judgment of the world's leading business journalists, that is Dow Jones journalists."
The Global Dow will track the share prices of existing and future global leaders in every industry. Vigorous companies from emerging economies will be included along with companies from emerging sectors such as alternative energy.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com.
Note to Editors:
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 61 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
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Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV) (www.newscorp.com). Dow Jones is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of STOXX Ltd. and provides news content to radio stations in the U.S.
News Corporation (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV) had total assets as of March 31, 2008 of approximately US$62 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$32 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers and information services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.