Nasdaq Closing Cross Calculates U.S. Russell Indexes for the 13th Consecutive Year

NEW YORK, June 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the Nasdaq Closing Cross was used for the 13thconsecutive year to rebalance Nasdaq-listed securities in the entire family of U.S. Russell indexes during its annual reconstitution. Approximately 933 million shares representing $20.6 billion were executed in the Nasdaq Closing Cross in 0.8 seconds across some 2,464 Nasdaq-listed stocks.

Nasdaq official closing prices (NOCPs) determined by the Nasdaq Closing Cross are widely used throughout the industry, by firms such as Russell Investments, S&P, Dow Jones, and many mutual funds across the country. The Nasdaq Closing Cross mechanism provides market participants with transparency and consistent prices with the dissemination of imbalances, indicative, and likely clearing prices every five seconds via the Net Order Imbalance Indicator. Nasdaq's INET technology platform processes accurate closing prices for the industry in milliseconds. 

"The superior capabilities and market integrity of Nasdaq's INET technology platform are once again evident through today's generation of accurate prices on one of the heaviest trading sessions of the year," said Tom Wittman, Head of Global Equities and Executive Vice President of Global Trading and Market Services at Nasdaq. "The rebalance is a critical element to ensure accurate representation and we are proud to partner with FTSE Russell for the 13th consecutive year."

"Russell indexes reconstitution is an important and closely watched event for the US markets," said Ron Bundy, CEO North America Benchmarks, FTSE Russell. "On 'recon day' each year, a significant level of market activity takes place on the US exchanges and we rely on our key exchange partners like Nasdaq to ensure year-after-year that the process goes off without a hitch." 

The Closing Cross brings together the buy and sell interest in specific Nasdaq, NYSE and NYSE MKT stocks and executes all shares for each stock at a single price, one that reflects the true supply and demand for these securities. All nationally-listed securities are eligible for the Nasdaq Closing Cross.

All Russell U.S. indexes are subsets of the Russell 3000®Index, which represents approximately 98% of the U.S. equity market. Russell U.S. Indexes allow investors to track current and historical market performance by specific market segment (large cap/small cap) or investment style (growth/value/defensive/dynamic). Approximately $6 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell indexes.