KSE included in Dow Jones Indexes

[Naveed Yaseen]

KARACHI: Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) plan to launch the Dow Jones FEAS Indexes on June 5, said a press release issued from New York.

This is the first time indexes are created to measure the performance of companies across the Euro-Asian region. The three indexes that are being launched on Friday are a composite, and two regional sub-indexes. The Dow Jones FEAS Indexes are designed to underlie index-linked investment products such as funds and structured products.

Dow Jones FEAS Composite Index currently includes component stocks of 10 of the 32 member states of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges. The exchanges included are Abu Dhabi (UAE), Amman (Jordan), Bahrain (Kingdom of Bahrain), Belgrade (Serbia), Bulgaria (Bulgaria), Istanbul (Turkey), Karachi (Pakistan), Macedonia (Republic of Macedonia), Muscat (Oman), and Zagreb (Croatia), according to the press release.

The Dow Jones FEAS Middle East/Caucasus Index currently includes stocks from the following four FEAS member exchanges: Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, and Muscat.

The Dow Jones FEAS South East Europe Index measures the performance of companies in the following five FEAS member exchanges: Bulgaria, Zagreb, Macedonia, Belgrade and Istanbul. “FEAS has promoted the development of emerging stock exchanges across the Euro-Asian region and has supported a transparent market environment between FEAS members to advance trading in these markets,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes. “The introduction of the Dow Jones FEAS Indexes will support this mission as the index provides market participants with easy access to a unique combination of emerging and frontier market stocks.”

“The three indexes currently cover around one third of the companies traded on the FEAS member exchanges, and we hope to increase both the types of indexes and also the number of constituent companies in the near future,” said Huseyin Erkan, chairman & chief executive officer, Istanbul Stock Exchange & president, FEAS. “I believe the Dow Jones FEAS Indexes will significantly contribute to promoting the growing businesses in the Euro-Asian region.

“FEAS covers a vast area from Mongolia in the East to Croatia in the West, with 32 stock exchange members and seven affiliate members. At FEAS, we attach great value to visibility and transparency, and the Dow Jones FEAS Indexes, designed to measure the performance of companies across the Euro-Asian region, is the first of its kind.” The Dow Jones FEAS Indexes are designed to cover 95 percent of the free-float market capitalisation of each country in the respective index. In addition to float-adjusted market capitalisation, components are selected based on readily available prices. The indexes are calculated and disseminated in euro and US dollar and weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. The Dow Jones FEAS Indexes are rebalanced quarterly when additional FEAS member exchanges will be added, said the press release. staff report

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