Nasdaq Closing Cross Calculates U.S. Russell Indexes for the Twelfth Consecutive Year for Russell's Annual Reconstitution

NEW YORK, June 26, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq (Symbol:NDAQ) today announced the Nasdaq Closing Cross was used for the twelfth consecutive year to rebalance Nasdaq-listed securities in the entire family of U.S. Russell indexes during their annual reconstitution. Approximately 787 million shares representing $21.1 billion were executed in the Nasdaq Closing Cross in 0.4 seconds across some 2,583 Nasdaq-listed stocks.

Nasdaq official closing prices (NOCPs) determined by the Nasdaq Closing Cross are widely used throughout the industry, by Russell Investments, Standard & Poor's, Dow Jones, and 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 microseconds.

"Today, the Nasdaq Closing Cross generated accurate closing prices during one of the heaviest trading sessions of the year demonstrating the capabilities and market integrity of Nasdaq's INET technology platform," Tom Wittman, Head of Global Equities and Executive Vice President of Global Trading and Market Services at Nasdaq. "We are proud to celebrate the 12th consecutive year of our partnership with FTSE Russell and appreciate their confidence in Nasdaq and Nasdaq's INET technology platform."

"We are very pleased that another annual Russell reconstitution has come to a successful and smooth conclusion, thanks to the incredible efforts of our valued exchange partners," said Ron Bundy, CEO North America Benchmarks, FTSE Russell. "Russell reconstitution is a significant market event and closely watched by investors. And, since we first developed the Closing Cross mechanism with Nasdaq more than ten years ago to facilitate a smooth and orderly close of reconstitution for investors, Nasdaq has been a critical partner to us."

The Closing Cross brings together the buy and sell interest in specific Nasdaq, NYSE and NYSE Amex 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.

The Russell U.S. Indexes include only common stocks incorporated in the U.S., its territories, and certain countries or regions offering U.S. companies operational, tax, political or other financial benefits. 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, more than $5.7 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell indexes.

Russell reconstitution day is usually one of the most highly anticipated and heaviest trading days in the U.S. equity market as asset managers seek to reconfigure their portfolios to reflect the composition of Russell's U.S. indexes. The index reconstitution process was completed today and the newly reconstituted index membership will take effect when markets open on June 29, 2015.

Please visit our website for more information on the Nasdaq Closing Cross.

About Nasdaq:

Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,500 listed companies with a market value of approximately $9.5 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit: nasdaq.com/ambition or business.nasdaq.com.

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