Dow Jones Indexes yesterday launched an additional set of conventional and Shariah-compliant indices measuring the performance of stocks listed in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

The four benchmarks are the Dow Jones GCC Index, Dow Jones GCC Islamic Market Index, Dow Jones GCC Titans 50 with Saudi and Dow Jones Islamic Market Mena indices.

The Gulf indices include companies from all six member states of the GCC.

The Islamic Market Mena index includes all GCC countries plus Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, said the company.

"Dow Jones Indexes is the first and currently only international index provider authorized by Tadawul to use real-time data of the Saudi stock market. Offering these indices is an important milestone for us," said President Michael A Petronella in a statement.

"The new indices give market participants for the first time access to authorised regional conventional and Shariah-compliant indices that include the widely sought after Saudi Arabian stock market."

The Dow Jones Islamic Market GCC and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Mena indices are part of the Dow Jones Islamic Market index series and measure the stock performance of companies that have passed rules-based screens for Shariah compliance and exclude firms engaged in the following lines of business: alcohol, tobacco, pork products, financial services, defence/weapons and entertainment. Also excluded are companies for which the following financial ratios are 33 per cent or more: debt divided by trailing 12-month average market capitalisation; cash plus interest-bearing securities divided by trailing 12-month average market cap; and accounts receivables divided by trailing 12-month average market cap.

To be eligible for the Dow Jones GCC Titans 50 with Saudi Index a stock must have an average daily trading volume of at least $500,000 (Dh1.8 million).

The three largest companies of each of the six GCC member states are included in the index. The remaining 32 components are selected top-down from the index universe, the statement said.

The universe of the Dow Jones GCC Index consists of all stocks traded in the six GCC countries.

The top 95 per cent of stocks by free-float market cap are selected to the index.

The four new indices are weighted by float-adjusted market cap. Back-tested estimated daily index history is available for the Dow Jones GCC Titans 50 with Saudi, Dow Jones GCC, Dow Jones Islamic Market GCC indices back to December 31, 2003 and for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Mena Index back to December 31, 2008.

The Dow Jones GCC, Dow Jones Islamic Market GCC and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Mena indices are reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December. The GCC Titans 50 with Saudi is reviewed annually in June. All four are calculated in US dollar.

As of Monday, the top five components of the GCC Index by float-adjusted market cap are Saudi Basic, Al Rajhi Bank, MTC, National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House.

The top five components of the Islamic Market GCC Index by float-adjusted market cap are Saudi Basic, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Telecom, Alinma Bank and Saudi Arabian Fertilisers.

The top five components of the GCC Titans 50 with Saudi Index are Saudi Basic, MTC, Al Rajhi Bank, etisalat and National Bank of Kuwait.

The top five components of the Islamic Market Mena Index are MTC, Saudi Basic, Al Rajhi Bank, Industries Qatar and Maroc Telecom.

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