Today the final US GDP Q1 figure was reported as being down 2.9% as opposed to the predicted 1% slide. The slide in the quarter has been consistently pushed to being a result of the cold weather. Equity markets had mixed reactions to the announcement with some markets being up, some flat and others down.

“While broad US Equity markets continue to touch or be around all-time highs, it’s interesting to see the results of the final US GDP Q1 figure being almost 2% below prior estimates,” said David Krein, Head of Research, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes.

INDEX MOVES THIS WEEK

• NASDAQ BIOTECHNOLOGY INDEX (NBI) is down 0.05% since Friday’s close. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 13% after being up above 20% at the end of February.
• PHLX GOLD/SILVER SECTOR (XAU) was up 0.27% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of gold is currently $1,323 per ounce, up $7 this week.
• NASDAQ INTERNET (QNET) was up 1.06% as of noon on Wednesday. Some of the largest holdings of the index include Amazon, Google, Facebook and Priceline.

INDEX TO WATCH

• Track the global equity space by monitoring the NASDAQ Global Index (NQGI). The quarterly evaluation for the month of June became effective after the close of trading on June 20, 2014. The index is down 0.61% this week and up 4.56% year-to-date.

NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes has partnered with ETRE Financial to create The NASDAQ ETRE REIT Index family, a unique way to provide smart-beta exposure to the U.S. real estate market through the usage of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) security types. The Indexes include five REIT sector specific Indexes plus a composite index.

The 12 new indexes available today are:

Index: Symbol

NASDAQ ETRE Composite REIT Index: NQETRE
NASDAQ ETRE Composite REIT Total Return Index: NQETRET
NASDAQ ETRE Healthcare REIT Index: NQETHC
NASDAQ ETRE Healthcare REIT Total Return Index: NQETHCT
NASDAQ ETRE Hospitality REIT Index: NQETH
NASDAQ ETRE Hospitality REIT Total Return Index: NQETHT
NASDAQ ETRE Office REIT Index: NQETO
NASDAQ ETRE Office REIT Total Return Index: NQETOT
NASDAQ ETRE Residential REIT Index: NQETRR
NASDAQ ETRE Residential REIT Total Return Index: NQETRRT
NASDAQ ETRE Retail REIT Index: NQETR
NASDAQ ETRE Retail REIT Total Return Index: NQETRT

The indexes use ETRE Financial’s proprietary Enterprise Value (EV) methodology to weight components based on the total value of the underlying properties of the REIT, rather than the traditional market cap equity value of the component. This improved approach to tracking real estate valuations is designed to bring a higher level of understanding to the tracking, trading, investing, and benchmarking of exchange-traded real estate. The unique NASDAQ ETRE REIT Indexes methodology allows investors to take advantage of changes and velocity of market cycles.

Click here for NASDAQ ETRE REIT Indexes Methodology.

John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Global Information Services, addresses the Importance of Scalable Technology in the second installment of his video series.

Transcript: To be a full service index calculator, and the world is moving to a smaller number of much larger full-service index calculators or indexers, you need a robust calculator. This business is moving to a model that’s built on scale, a technology scale. That is a strong spot of the NASDAQ OMX Group and we built the most scalable technology to trade securities around the planet. Now I say securities specifically, not just stocks, because we power a variety of different kinds of markets. So when it comes to an index calculation, you need to be able to calculate a variety of indexes across multiple asset classes; Not just equities, but commodities, you need to be able to do currencies, you need to be able to do fixed income and a variety of other things. It needs to be fast, it needs to be able to take in multiple data inputs, and it needs to be able to deliver that in a very robust data center that can be consumed by investors a lot of different ways. You can’t build that with a very expensive cost structure, it won’t be competitive. So that is the importance of having a technologically scalable index calculator at the core of your index business and we are very excited that we have built what we consider the absolute state-of-the-art best one on the planet.

John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Global Information Services, addresses the growth of Dividend & Income Index Strategies in the first installment of his video series.

Transcript: Since 2007, 2008, since the financial crisis, it’s been very difficult for institutional and individual investors to find yield. So dividend investing has a lot of advantages because it guarantees investors a yield on their portfolio instead of just relying on the performance of the stock, or the underlying stocks in the ETF. So with the acquisition of the Dividend Achievers suite of products, we can marry that with our income family of products and offer investors a suite of different indexes to use. The indexes are a basis for a variety of ETFs and other types of products and it’s another stepping stone for NASDAQ as we continue to build out our Global Index business, which has become multi-asset class and, as well, multi-different investment style.

The Fed wrapped up its two-day meeting today. The outcome resulted in another $10B decrease of its bond buying program, to $35B. Today, US Equity markets were flat in anticipation of this announcement. In addition, it is estimated that interest rates will continue to be low, unless inflationary pressures cause the Fed to act.

“The Fed has continued to decrease its bond buying program by $10B. Note that interest rates will most likely remain low despite the recent increase in the CPI, with year-over-year figures pointing north of 2%,” said David Krein, Head of Research, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes.

INDEX MOVES THIS WEEK

• NASDAQ BIOTECHNOLOGY INDEX (NBI) is down 0.04% since Friday’s close. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 9% after being up above 20% at the end of February.
• PHLX GOLD/SILVER SECTOR (XAU) was up 1.41% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of gold is currently $1,272 per ounce, down $2 this week.
• PHLX OIL SERVICE SECTOR (OSX) was up 0.03% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of oil is currently $106 per barrel, down $1 this week.

INDEX TO WATCH

• Track the global equity space by monitoring the NASDAQ Global Index (NQGI). The quarterly evaluation for the month of June becomes effective after the close of trading on the 3rd Friday each June (this year, June 20, 2014). The index is up 0.15% this week and up 4.27% year-to-date.

NASDAQ OMX has added BondEdge Solutions, an Interactive Data company and provider of high-quality cross-asset portfolio management and risk analytics solutions, to the NASDAQ Elite Index Data Partner Program. BondEdge will distribute the NASDAQ Global Index Family value data to its customers, immediately upon distribution from NASDAQ OMX. As part of the index launch, Bondedge is providing their clients with free access to NASDAQ’s suite of Global Equity Indexes through August 2014 to help them evaluate the offering.

The NASDAQ Global Index Family covers international securities segmented by geography, sector, and size. NASDAQ OMX’s transparent and rules-based selection method results in a complete representation of the global investable equity marketplace. The indexes cover 45 individual countries within developed and emerging markets, and facilitate a multitude of tracking, trading, and investing opportunities.

For more information about BondEdge, please visit www.bondedge.com.

OPEC is set to maintain its output quota, despite turmoil among OPEC members, as well as adequate oil global supplies. OPEC is currently holding its annual meeting in Vienna, Austria.

“OPEC has opted to maintain its 30 million barrel a day quota. This supply quota has not seemed to disrupt or impact oil prices,” said David Krein, Head of Research, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes.

INDEX MOVES THIS WEEK

• NASDAQ BIOTECHNOLOGY INDEX (NBI) is up 1.65% since Friday’s close. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 10% after being up above 20% at the end of February.
• PHLX GOLD/SILVER SECTOR (XAU) was up 3.52% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of gold is currently $1,261 per ounce, up $9 this week.
• PHLX OIL SERVICE SECTOR (OSX) was down 0.33% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of oil is currently $105 per barrel, up $2 this week.

INDEX TO WATCH

• Buybacks have been a hot topic, as they offer another means of shareholder returns outside of dividends. Track the international buyback space by monitoring the NASDAQ International BuyBack Achievers Index (DRBXUS). The index conducts its annual evaluation, which becomes effective after the close of trading on the last trading day in July. The index is down 0.09% this week but up 5.60% year-to-date.

Broad US equity markets are at all-time highs. Employment figures reported by ADP point to 179,000 jobs being added in May. This Friday, the US Department of Labor will release its jobs report for the month of May. According to some, with the addition of these new jobs, the US has now recovered all jobs lost during the financial crisis.

“US jobs reports are continuing to give healthy figures from ADP and we anticipate the same from the US Department of Labor this Friday. It should not come as a shock that the US equity markets have continued to touch all-time highs in conjunction with this news,” said David Krein, Head of Research, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes.

INDEX MOVES THIS WEEK

• NASDAQ BIOTECHNOLOGY INDEX (NBI) is up 1.32% since Friday’s close. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 7% after being up above 20% at the end of February.
• PHLX GOLD/SILVER SECTOR (XAU) was up 0.54% as of noon on Wednesday. The price of gold is currently $1,244 per ounce, flat this week.
• PHLX SEMICONDUCTOR (SOX) was up 1.76% as of noon on Wednesday. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 14% with cumulative returns being positive since the middle of February.

INDEX TO WATCH

• Buybacks have been a hot topic, as they offer another means of shareholder returns outside of dividends. Track the international buyback space by monitoring the NASDAQ International BuyBack Achievers Index (DRBXUS). The index conducts its annual evaluation, which becomes effective after the close of trading on the last trading day in July. The index is up 0.69% this week and 4.66% year-to-date.

The NASDAQ OMX Wind Index is May's top performer at 14% and the PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index is the worst performer of May at -7.8%. Get a quick overview of NASDAQ OMX Index performance data for our top 50 most watched indexes here.