Infosys opens NASDAQ Stock Market from Mysore

Mysore, Jul 31: Indian software major Infosys Technologies was today bestowed with the honour of being the only Asian company to remotely ring the bell, marking the opening of the day's trading at the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York.

The event marked the first time that the NASDAQ Stock Market was opened by a company in India. Broadcast live from the Infosys campus in Mysore to NASDAQ's MarketSite tower in Times Square in New York, the opening signalled that the world was increasingly flattening and that India was part of the global economic community. Infosys was the first Indian company to be listed on the NASDAQ in 1999.

This was the third occasion that NASDAQ had gone in for remote opening of the day's trading, with the first one being in December last year from London and then in January this year from Davos during the World Economic Forum meeting.

To mark Infosys' 25th anniversary, the bell was rung by Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy, Infosys CEO, President and Managing Director Nandan M Nilekani, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and NASDAQ President and CEO Bob Greifeld.

The Opening Bell was a ceremonial event that represented the essence of NASDAQ's virtual market model. Since NASDAQ's operations were entirely electronic, it could be opened from any location around the world, symbolically bringing together investors and market participants at the beginning of each trading day.

''Twenty-five years ago, we founded Infosys with a vision of the global delivery model. That vision has been validated as the tide of globalisation has swept across the world and businesses are dramatically changing how they run their organisations...Opening the NASDAQ market from India is not only a great honor for Infosys, but also illustrative of the emerging new world,'' Mr Murthy said.

Mr Greifeld said ''though the NASDAQ Stock Market is US-based, our charter and scope are global. India is increasingly becoming a driving force in the global economy and companies like Infosys are leading the charge. Infosys is the first Indian company to be listed on the NASDAQ and now has a market capitalisation of US Dollar 22 billion. Infosys has added another milestone today by becoming the first company to remotely ring the NASDAQ Opening Bell from India.'' Infosys was recently named to NASDAQ's new Global Select Market.

Designed for public companies which have met highest standards in the world for corporate governance, market value and liquidity, the category included 1,200 companies.

UNI

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