Global index provider FTSE Russell celebrated the conclusion of its 36^th annual Russell Reconstitution at the close of 28 June US markets, setting another record for shares traded across both Nasdaq and NYSE as Microsoft (MSFT) officially reclaims – for the first time since 2020 – the largest company position from Apple (AAPL) in the Russell 3000 and large cap Russell 1000 Indexes.

The annual Russell Reconstitution rebalances the entire Russell US Indexes family – now in their 40^th year – to maintain an accurate representation of US equity markets and reflect the dynamic US economy. Typically culminating in one of the highest trading volume days of the year, markets closed with $219.6 billion traded across Nasdaq and NYSE – $95.3 billion and $124.3 billion in US stocks traded on the Nasdaq and NYSE, respectively.

For 40 years, the Russell US Indexes have been widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. As of the end of December 2023, approximately $10.5 trillion in investor assets are benchmarked to or invested in products based on the Russell US Indexes.

Fiona Bassett, CEO, FTSE Russell:

“Our annual indexes rebalancing plays a vital role in establishing accurate benchmarks, ensuring they correctly mirror their designated market segments and remain unbiased in terms of size and style. We’re pleased to commemorate the conclusion of our annual recalibration with our friends at Nasdaq, with this year marking the 21^st consecutive Nasdaq Closing Cross celebration of the Russell Reconstitution.”

FTSE Russell’s Russell Reconstitution concluded at the close of the US equity markets today, June 28^th, with the newly rebalanced indexes taking effect when markets open on Monday, July 1^st. For more information on the Russell Reconstitution, please visit the FTSE Russell website.

Source: LSEG

Record Notional Value of Shares Traded on the Nasdaq Closing Cross During the 2024 Russell US Indexes Reconstitution

Nasdaq Closing Cross continues to play an integral and innovative role in capital markets

Global growth in trading volumes demands increasingly scalable and flexible technology architecture

Nasdaq announced the Nasdaq Closing Cross had a record day as it was used to rebalance Nasdaq-listed securities in the entire family of Russell US Indexes, part of global index provider FTSE Russell, during its annual reconstitution. This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the Russell 3000^® Index and the 21^st year that the Closing Cross has been used to calculate the Russell Reconstitution.

2,899,191,109 shares, representing a record $95.257 billion, were executed in the Closing Cross in 0.878 seconds across Nasdaq-listed securities, representing the largest liquidity event on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange for the Russell Reconstitution. The new record compares with the second-highest trading day, which represented $80.898 billion, executed in 1.974 seconds across Nasdaq-listed securities during Russell’s annual reconstitution in 2021.

“The Nasdaq Closing Cross has played an integral and innovative role in the capital markets, enabling transparent price facilitation for over two decades,” said Kevin Kennedy, Executive Vice President of North American Trading Services at Nasdaq. “We are incredibly proud to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Russell 3000® Index while also surpassing the record for notional value of shares traded, and we look forward to continuing to set the official closing price for all Nasdaq-listed securities for the Reconstitution.”

“Russell indexes–now in their 40th year–continue to evolve to reflect the dynamic US economy,” said Fiona Bassett CEO of FTSE Russell. “Annual rebalancing plays a vital role in establishing accurate benchmarks, ensuring they correctly mirror their designated market segments and remain unbiased in terms of size and style.”

The Closing Cross brings together buy and sell interests executing all shares for each stock at a single price, one that reflects the accurate supply and demand for these securities. The technology reflects each symbol’s true supply and demand, providing unparalleled insight into the market close.

All Russell US Indexes are subsets of the Russell 3000E™ Index, which represents approximately 98% of the US equity market. Russell US 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 $10.5 trillion in assets are benchmarked to or invested in products based on the Russell US Indexes.

Russell reconstitution day is one of the year’s most highly anticipated and heaviest trading days in the US equity market, as asset managers seek to reconfigure their portfolios to reflect the composition of Russell’s newly reconstituted US indexes. The index reconstitution process was completed today, and the newly reconstituted index membership will take effect when markets open on Monday, July 1, 2024. Please visit our website for more information on the Nasdaq Closing Cross.

Responding to the global growth in trading volumes

Over the last two decades Nasdaq’s industry-leading technology has provided the essential price discovery function that the prices of FTSE Russell Reconstitution depends on. During that time the Cross has reduced latency by over 86% while effectively keeping pace with an increasing trade volume growth of over 450% and an increasing dollar volume of over 950%.

This trend is representative of an extraordinary global growth in trading volumes that has necessitated the enhanced development and deployment of resilient technology in market systems. Nasdaq has long invested to ensure it has the flexible and scalable architecture necessary to manage ever greater volumes, and through our Financial Technology division continues to build on an extensive range of partnerships with infrastructure providers to support their modernization journey.

Modernizing global capital markets infrastructure is critical to maintaining overall system resilience and ensuring market operators can both support and grow with the economies they underpin.

Source: Nasdaq