15th Consecutive Nasdaq Closing Cross Sets Record for Number of Shares Traded During 2018 Russell US Indexes Reconstitution

NEW YORK, June 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the Nasdaq Closing Cross had a record day as it was used for the 15^th consecutive year to rebalance Nasdaq-listed securities in the entire family of Russell U.S. Indexes, part of leading global index provider FTSE Russell, during their annual reconstitution.

A record 1.188 billion shares representing $39.26 billion were executed in the Closing Cross in 0.935 seconds across some 2,591 Nasdaq-listed stocks. This compares to 2017, when Nasdaq executed 972 million shares representing $28.9 billion executed in 0.861 seconds across 2,499 Nasdaq-listed stocks.

"Today, we saw a record-breaking performance for the Nasdaq Closing Cross, which benefits issuers and investors alike with transparent and efficient price discovery," said Tom Wittman, Head of Global Equities and Executive Vice President of Global Trading and Market Services at Nasdaq. "The rebalance is an important event to ensure that the Russell U.S. indexes continue to reflect the ever changing state of the U.S. equity market and its market segments. Our continued partnership with FTSE Russell has benefited investors for the 15th consecutive year."

"This is a new record for the Russell U.S. indexes," said Ron Bundy, Managing Director, FTSE Russell. "The annual rebalancing is a significant event for the U.S. equity market, and a central part of maintaining the integrity and relevance of our leading set of U.S. benchmarks, which millions of investors rely upon. Our longstanding and successful association with Nasdaq around the annual Russell rebalance help make it a vital and transparent market event every year." 

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). Today, approximately $9 trillion in assets are benchmarked to or invested in products based on the Russell U.S. indexes.