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Dow Jones introduces Islamic index in Turkey

ISTANBUL - Dow Jones Indexes said yesterday it was launching a new index for Islamic investors in the Turkish stock market.

The Dow Jones Islamic Market Turkey Index tracks 17 companies with a total value of around $4 billion, the company said in a statement released at the International Islamic Finance Forum meeting in Istanbul.

The index is aimed at investors seeking to invest their money along Islamic guidelines, the statement said.

Stocks in Turkish companies that sell alcohol, pork products, tobacco, weapons or defence systems and financial or entertainment services are excluded from the index, the statement said.

Among those tracked are blue-chip shares such as steelmaker Eregli Demir Celik, white goods producer Arcelik, food company Ulker and automakers Ford Otosan and Tofas. The index, which goes into effect on Thursday, is calculated in Turkish lira, Dow Jones said.

“Among developing countries, Turkey presents an extremely good institutional infrastructure,” said Lars Hamich of the joint venture responsible for Dow Jones Indexes in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“Islamic investors in Turkey and in other Muslim countries are quite interested in the Turkish market,” he said, speaking through a translator.

Turkey, a Muslim country straddling Europe and the Middle East, was also chosen because of its European Union candidacy, Hamich said.

The Turkey index is Dow Jones’ latest Islamic Market Index. Others are found in at least five countries, including the United States, Great Britain and Japan. Dow Jones’ international Islamic Market Index includes more than 1,600 firms with a global market share of $9 trillion.

The firms tracked by the Turkey index include those already in the Dow Jones’ emerging Europe index whose shares are traded on the Istanbul stock exchange, Dow Jones said.