The new index is an optimized version of the Nasdaq-100 Index, which comprises of 100 non-financial companies.
The Nasdaq-100 Data Explorers Optimized Index offers a tradable benchmark that will enhance liquidity and protect both the long and short investor.
Nasdaq said the new index is unique because it screens out stocks that are either lacking in liquidity or relatively expensive to borrow in the stock lending market based on analytics from Data Explorers, the provider of stock lending and short interest information.
The optimized version of the Nasdaq-100 Index retains the return and volatility characteristics of the original index, with enhanced liquidity to support both the long and short sides of the trade, according to Nasdaq.
Nasdaq OMX executive vice president John Jacobs said the launch of the Nasdaq-100 Data Explorers Optimized Index offers investors the liquidity of the NASDAQ-100 Index components but with extra measures of liquidity.
"The inclusion of information from Data Explorers, the world’s premier provider of stock loan data, reflects our constant innovation to improve the usability and effectiveness of our indexes," Jacobs added.
