Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. Monday announced the launch of thousands of new indexes in a variety of major currencies.
The exchange said that it is introducing more than 21,000 new Nasdaq global indices, calculated in Canadian and Australian dollars, Euros, Yen, and British pounds to augment a roster of U.S. dollar indices that was launched last December.
The index family, which covers 45 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East-Africa regions, utilizes a rules-based index methodology. The exchange says that over 10 years of historical back-tested data is available for the entire global family. Price return, total return and net total return versions are calculated for each index.
“The expansion of the Nasdaq Global Index Family into various currencies underscores the arrival of our index business — Nasdaq OMX Global Indexes — as a premier global index operation,” said Nasdaq OMX executive vice president, John Jacobs. “We recognized the need for cost-effective benchmark alternatives in multiple currencies, and now product sponsors, portfolio managers and other market participants can more effectively gauge and manage currency exposure as they track global equities.”
Nasdaq says these indexes cover more than 98% of the investable global equity marketplace —9,000 securities with a combined float-adjusted market capitalization of over US$37 trillion — and now comprise over 25,000 indices. The index family consists of global securities broken down by market segment, region, country, size and sector.