New York, (February 14, 2008 ) - Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), the exchange for the trading of securities in Jordan), today launched the Dow Jones ASE 100 Index. The index is a broad benchmark index that tracks the performance of the 100 largest stocks listed at the ASE based on free-float market capitalization.
The Dow Jones ASE 100 Index was developed to meet the demand on products based on indexes at the Amman Stock Exchange and to eventually substitute the ASE general price inde. The Dow Jones ASE 100 is expected to further enhance transparency, visibility and accessibility of the performance of the Amman Stock Exchange for local, regional and international market participants by applying Dow Jones Indexes' well known and widely used index methodology.
"The cooperation with the Amman Stock Exchange confirms once again our position as the leading index provider in the MENA region and as the partner of choice to introduce transparent rules-based indexes," said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes. "We are confident that the Dow Jones ASE 100 Index will be a competitive tool to assist the Amman Stock Exchange with its key projects introduced to retain the leading role among regional stock exchanges."
"The Amman Stock Exchange is one of the most efficient exchanges in the region. The ASE contributed in establishing most of the regional exchanges." said Jalil Tarif, the CEO of Amman Stock Exchange. "The ASE has its own indexes since 1980, and introduced new indexes based on free-float market capitalization. I believe that the launching of the Dow Jones ASE 100 index will enhance the ASE exposure to international investors. Foreign investors own more than 49% of the ASE market capitalization."
The index universe for the Dow Jones ASE 100 Index is defined as all companies domiciled in Jordan, with their primary listing at the Amman Stock Exchange. Eliminated from the index universe are companies which belong to the bottom 1% by full market capitalization and companies which do not trade more than 33.33% of all trading days per quarter. The largest 100 companies remaining by full market capitalization will be included in the index. The Dow Jones ASE 100 Index is weighted by free-float market capitalization. Weights of individual stocks are capped at 10% in order to prevent the index from being dominated by individual securities .
The top five companies in the index by free float market capitalization are: Arab Bank ( Banks ), Housing Bank for Trading & Finance (Banks), Jordan Electric Power (Utilities), Taameer Jordan Holdings (Real Estate) and United Arab Investors (Financial Services).
The Dow Jones ASE 100 Index, which is calculated in U.S. dollar (USD) and Jordanian Dinar (JOD), is reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December. Companies deleted in between quarterly reviews will be replaced at the next review date. As of January 31, 2007, the Dow Jones ASE 100 Index (USD) gained 269.83% back tested from its base date, December 31, 1999 1 . Daily index history is available back to December 31, 1999. The full list of companies, including weighting and values of the Dow Jones ASE 100 Index, is available on www.djindexes.com .
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About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
Dow Jones & Company ( www.dowjones.com ) is a News Corporation company (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; www.newscorp.com ). Dow Jones is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of Stoxx Ltd. and provides news content to radio stations in the U.S.
About Amman Stock Exchange
The ASE was established in March 1999 as a non-profit, private institution with administrative and financial autonomy. It is authorized to function as an exchange for the trading of securities. The exchange is governed by a seven-member board of directors and a chief executive officer. The ASE membership is comprised of Jordan's 70 brokerage firms. The ASE is an active member of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS), a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), and an affiliate member of the International Organization for Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The ASE market capitalization reached US$43 billion, representing 300% of the GDP, which is considered to be a high ratio on the international level. To provide a transparent and efficient market, the ASE implemented internationally recognized directives regarding market divisions and listing criteria. It also adopted procedures for improving regulatory effectiveness. The ASE operates an automated order-driven Electronic Trading System. The system is in compliance with international standards and takes into account the G-30 recommendations. The ASE is 100% open to foreign investors that are treated equally to Jordanian investors. No taxes on cash dividends or on capital gains. There are no restrictions on the repatriation of proceeds of sale of securities, or income from them.
1 The Dow Jones ASE 100 Index was first published on February 12, 2008. All estimated daily historical closing prices prior to that date are based on back-testing, i.e. calculations of how the index might have performed in the past if it had existed. Back-tested performance information is purely hypothetical and is solely for informational purposes. It does not represent actual performance, and past performance is not indicative of future results.