NASDAQ SALUTES INDIA ON HER 64TH INDEPENDENCE DAY; CONSUL GENERAL PRABHU DAYAL RINGS NASDAQ CLOSING BELL

The rise and resilience of Indian economy is getting world-wide attention.  NASDAQ OMX Inc, the world’s largest exchange company, lauds the contribution of India to the growth and stability of world economy.  As a tribute to the already-listed eight Indian companies and other prospective members, NASDAQ celebrated India’s Independence Day with the Consulate and members of Indo-American community.

As during last 2 years, the Consul General of India presided over the Closing Bell Ceremony at NASDAQ on 16 August 2010.

In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Karin McKinnell, Vice President, NASDAQ, mentioned that the ceremony was being presided over by the Consul General for the third consecutive year and had become an important institutional event for NASDAQ OMX. She highlighted the importance of India’s economic growth for the world economy and noted that India was slated to become a global power soon. She also acknowledged the contribution made by Indian companies listed on NASDAQ, most notably the recent addition, Mytrip.com, which IPOed in August 2010 and showed a growth of 89%.

In his remarks Consul General underlined the growing importance of India for NASDAQ which lists eight Indian companies with combined market capitalization of $35 billion. He further noted that his presence at NASDAQ on this day emphasized the strong partnership between India and the United States. Ambassador Dayal drew attention to a very successful State visit of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India to the US last year and the upcoming visit of President Barack Obama to India in November 2010. As the largest source of foreign direct and portfolio investments United States is an indispensable partner in India’s development. The huge Indian market also offers enormous opportunities for US investors.

The ceremony was attended by leading Indian businessmen and professionals from the Tri- state area.

Outside the exchange, in the heart of Times Square, an electronic board displayed the Indian flag and the caption “NASDAQ welcomes Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul General of India in New York." Many tourists at Times Square were clicking pictures against the backdrop of NASDAQ board flashing India’s tri-colour.

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc, is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public services across six continents, with more than 3,600 listed companies. The NASDAQ OMX group attaches high importance to India. NASDAQ lists 8 companies with a strong presence in India.

Infosys and Cognizant are both members of the NASDAQ 100 Index which is one of the widely followed indices of the world. Additionally India’s first power exchange for trading and electricity, the Indian Energy Exchange, is using NASDAQ OMX as one of the primary contractors for their new exchange’s energy trading solution.

The ceremony was telecast on CNBC, CNBC India, CNBC.com, Business News Network (Canada), Bloomberg and Bloomberg (Brazil) and webcast on the Internet at the NASDAQ Marketsite webpage.

New York  
17th August 2010