NEW YORK, March 11, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- At the end of the settlement date of February 29, 2008, short interest in 2,692 NASDAQ Global Market(sm) securities totaled 9,067,158,294 shares compared with 8,865,941,056 shares in 2,698 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of February 15, 2008. The end-of-February short interest represents 4.17 days average daily NASDAQ Global Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 3.51 days for the prior reporting period.
Short interest in 521 securities on The NASDAQ Capital Market(sm) totaled 181,138,067 shares at the end of the settlement date of February 29, 2008, compared with 183,330,305 shares in 522 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents 4.38 days average daily volume, compared with the previous reporting period's figure of 5.00.
In summary, short interest in all 3,213 NASDAQ(r) securities totaled 9,248,296,361 shares at the end of the February 29, 2008 settlement date, compared with 3,220 issues and 9,049,271,361 shares at the end of the previous reporting period. This is 4.17 days average daily volume, compared with an average of 3.53 days for the previous reporting period.
The open short interest positions reported for each NASDAQ security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by or for the account of the seller.
For more information on NASDAQ Short interest positions, including publication dates, visit http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/asp/short_interest.asp.
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, and with over 3,900 companies, it is number one in worldwide listings among major markets. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market; the OMX Nordic Exchange, including First North; and the 144A PORTAL Market. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX Group technology supports the operations of over 60 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. OMX Nordic Exchange is not a legal entity but describes the common offering from NASDAQ OMX Group exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit www.nasdaqomx.com.
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