NYSE Group Inc. announced that 16 new exchange-traded funds transferred their primary listing from the American Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange as part of the previously announced agreement with iShares in 2005.

The addition of these products gives the NYSE 165 primary ETF listings, and sees it handling 43% of all ETF shares traded in the U.S. market in 2006.

“NYSE Group has assumed a leadership position in the growing ETF space, fulfilling a goal we identified as an essential component of our multi-asset growth strategy,” said senior vice president, Exchange Traded Funds and Indexes, Lisa Dallmer .

“ETFs are based on the prices of other securities, so the technology tools we provide to market professionals and investors are essential to facilitate access to the deep liquidity found only on our book. With ETF trading volume increasing over 60% on our exchanges in 2006, we look forward to continuing to provide the industry standard in listing and trading ETFs as we add more ground-breaking products that meet the demands of the investment community in 2007,” she added.

So far in 2007, NYSE Group has listed 30 new ETFs with innovative investment objectives for investors. In January, iShares chose the NYSE as the primary listing exchange to expand their offering of the industry’s first suite of fixed-income ETFs, followed by the new HealthShares family of vertically defined healthcare ETFs and the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust, which joins the seven existing Exchange listed currency-focused products offered by Rydex Investments.