NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the third quarter and year-to-date activities report for the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group. The Global Index Group creates and licenses indexes, which are the basis of financial instruments, and provides full-service index support to financial product issuers, sponsors and investors.
Business Highlights
* NASDAQ OMX completed the acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The Global Index Group is now responsible for the calculation and licensing of the PHLX Sector Index Series. * NASDAQ OMX launched the NASDAQ OMX Europe Index on September 26. The NASDAQ OMX Europe Index is a market capitalized weighted index designed to track the companies traded on the NASDAQ OMX Europe Marketplace. * During the third quarter, the NASDAQ-100 Index Future, listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), became the second equity- index future to cross the threshold of 500 million contracts traded with a notional value greater than $25 trillion. * NASDAQ OMX launched 32 new indexes in the third quarter and a total of 53 indexes through September 30, 2008. * Ten ETFs were introduced based on NASDAQ OMX Indexes. Eight of the ETFs were listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ) while one was launched on the London Stock Exchange and one on XETRA. * The NASDAQ Financial-100 Index significantly outperformed other financial indexes by returning 13.48% in the third quarter.
Index Performance
During the third quarter and year-to-date, NASDAQ OMX indexes -- the benchmark for 36 ETFs worldwide -- paced the market for both broad-based and sector performance. The table below shows the third quarter and year-to-date performances of some of NASDAQ OMX's top performing indexes:
Name YTD (9/30/08) 3rd Quarter PHLX Housing Index -10.06% 20.23% NASDAQ Financial-100 Index -11.03% 13.48% NASDAQ Biotechnology Index 0.13% 5.38% OMRX Treasury Bond Index 5.52% 5.25% NASDAQ OMX Global Biotechnology Index(1) 8.42% 5.02% OMRX Total Bond Index 3.11% 2.95% OMRX Treasury Bill Index 3.11% 1.07% OMRX Real Return Bond Index 3.99% 1.03% PHLX Retail Index -12.98% 0.65% PHLX Defense Index -14.63% -3.59% NASDAQ Composite Index -21.13% -8.77% OMX GES Sustainability Sweden Index -25.94% -8.91% OMX Stockholm 30 Index -28.94% -10.40% NASDAQ Transportation Index -20.69% -12.70% NASDAQ-100 Index -23.52% -13.20%
New Indexes
In the third quarter, NASDAQ OMX developed the following new indexes (both price and total return variants for a total of 32 new indexes):
Name Ticker NASDAQ OMX Global Agriculture Index QAGR NASDAQ OMX Global Gold & Precious Metals Index QGLD NASDAQ OMX Global Biotechnology Index1 QGBI NASDAQ OMX Global Coal Index QCOL NASDAQ OMX Global Steel Index QSTL NASDAQ OMX Ireland Index QIRL Wilder NASDAQ OMX Global Energy Efficient Transport Index HAUL NASDAQ OMX Europe Index NEUX OMX GES Sustainability Sweden Price Index OMXSUSTAINSEPI OMX GES Sustainability Sweden Ethical Price Index OMXSUSTETHSEPI OMX GES Ethical Nordic Index OMXETHICALNC OMX GES Ethical Sweden Index OMXETHICALSE OMX GES Ethical Denmark Index OMXETHICALDK OMX GES Ethical Finland Index OMXETHICALFI OMX GES Ethical Norway Index OMXETHICALNO OMX GES OMXS-30 Ethical Index OMXS30ETHICPI
New ETF Listings
The following ETFs based on NASDAQ indexes listed on NASDAQ during the third quarter of 2008:
Name Ticker PowerShares Global Agriculture Portfolio PAGG PowerShares Global Steel Portfolio PSTL PowerShares Global Gold & Precious Metals Portfolio PSAU PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio PKOL PowerShares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio PTRP PowerShares Global Biotech Portfolio PBTQ PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio PWND PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries Portfolio PMNA
The following ETFs based on NASDAQ indexes listed on other markets during the third quarter of 2008:
Name Ticker PowerShares Global Agriculture Fund PSGA LN ComStage ETF Nasdaq-100 (CBNDX GR) CBNDX GR
About NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group
NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is engaged in the design, development, calculation, licensing and marketing of NASDAQ OMX indexes. The Global Index Group specializes in the development of indexes focusing on NASDAQ OMX's brand themes of innovation, technology, growth and globalization. The Global Index Group also provides custom index services and design solutions as a third-party provider to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit www.nasdaq.com/indexes.
About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,900 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market; the OMX Nordic Exchange, including First North; and the 144A PORTAL Market. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX Group technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. OMX Nordic Exchange is not a legal entity but describes the common offering from NASDAQ OMX Group exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein may contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ's control. These factors include, but are not limited to, factors detailed in NASDAQ's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
(1)Index performance includes back-tested index values prior to the index's dissemination date, which are indicative and NASDAQ OMX makes no guarantee of the accuracy of the back-tested data.
The ETFs set forth above are not issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by NASDAQ OMX. NASDAQ OMX MAKES NO WARRANTIES AND BEARS NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE ETFS.
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