NASDAQ OMX Announces First Quarter and Year-to-Date Global Index Group Report

NEW YORK, April 19, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the first 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

• The NASDAQ Stock Market^® (NASDAQ) began trading on February 11 two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to provide leveraged and inverse exposure to the NASDAQ-100 Index^® (NDX). The following ETFs are sponsored by ProShares:

• ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ)
• ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ)

• On March 22, the NASDAQ-100 Index became the benchmark for the first foreign index-linked financial product in China. The Guotai NASDAQ-100 Fund is open for subscription by Guotai Asset Management Co., Ltd., one of the original asset managers in China, and is now available to investors in China.
   
• Nordea Bank launched on March 10 four new Bull and Bear Certificates based on the NASDAQ-100 Index and the OMX Helsinki 25 (OMXH25). The certificates are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
   
• An ETF designed to replicate the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index was launched on January 25 in Canada. BMO Nasdaq 100 Equity Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZQQ) is sponsored by BMO Financial Group.
   
• Two new ETFs based on NASDAQ OMX's PHLX Semiconductor Sector^(SM) index (SOX) were recently introduced by Direxion Shares. The PHLX Semiconductor Sector index is the most widely recognized index investors use to track the semiconductor industry. On March 11, the following ETFs that offer leveraged long and short exposure to the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index began trading:

• Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL)
• Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares (SOXS)

• NASDAQ recently began trading two new ETFs designed to provide leveraged and inverse exposure to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index^® (NBI), the most widely used benchmark for U.S. biotechnology sector. The following ETFs, sponsored by ProShares, began trading on April 8:

• ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology (BIB)
• ProShares UltraShort Nasdaq Biotechnology (BIS)

• Options trading on the NASDAQ Internet Index^(SM) (QNET) began on March 24 on NASDAQ OMX PHLX. The NASDAQ Internet Index is designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid U.S.-listed companies engaged in internet-related businesses that are listed on NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NYSE Amex. Susquehanna Securities is the specialist for this new product.
   
• DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA), the climate change investment and research business of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management business, and NASDAQ OMX announced on February 10 the introduction of the DB NASDAQ OMX^® Clean Tech Index (DBCC). The index is an accurate, real-time representation of the global clean technology sector with exposure to clean energy, energy efficiency, transport, waste management and water companies. This is the first clean technology index co-branded by a global exchange company and a global bank.
   
• On April 12, NASDAQ OMX and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^® introduced the NASDAQ OMX^® CEA^® Smartphone Index^(SM) (QFON), a new benchmark for the telecommunications sector focused on wireless, mobile devices with advanced communications functionality. The NASDAQ OMX^® CEA^® Smartphone Index is a modified market-capitalization index and includes companies that are primarily involved in the building, design and distribution of handsets, hardware, software, and mobile networks associated with the development, sale and usage of smartphones.

Index Performance

During the first quarter, NASDAQ OMX indexes – the benchmark for 53 ETFs worldwide – paced the market for both broad-based and sector performance. The table below shows the first quarter performance of some of NASDAQ OMX's leading indexes:

 

New Indexes

In the first quarter, NASDAQ OMX launched the following new indexes:

On April 14, NASDAQ OMX launched the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Tradable Sector Indexes. The index family comprises 10 Sector indexes and a Composite index. Four versions of the indexes – price return, total return, net return and an expiration index for futures – are calculated. The price return indexes are listed below:

On April 12, NASDAQ OMX launched a new blue chip index, the OMX Helsinki 15 (OMXH15). The OMXH15 is calculated as a free float market capitalized weighted index based on the 15 most traded shares on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

The index is calculated in price, gross and net versions:

NASDAQ OMX is a global leader in creating and licensing strategy indexes and is home to the most widely watched indexes in the world. As a premier, full-service provider, the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is dedicated to designing powerful indexes that are in sync with a continually changing market environment. Utilizing its expanded coverage as a global company, NASDAQ OMX has more than 1,400 diverse equity, commodity and fixed-income indexes in the U.S., Europe, and throughout the world.

NASDAQ OMX's calculation, licensing and marketing support provide the tools to measure and replicate global markets. The NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group's range of services covers the entire business process from index design to calculation and dissemination. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit https://www.nasdaqomx.com/indexes/.

Access to essential historical index data for NASDAQ OMX indexes can be accessed from a single source, NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch. For additional information, please visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/indexwatch.aspx.

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 more than 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries.  NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/NASDAQ-OMX/108167527653) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).

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.

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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