“At Nasdaq trying to get my self listed :-)))) hope the markets do well today! I cannot stop smiling :-) Ting!” tweeted Preity Zinta from New York on Tuesday morning. The actress, dressed in a dramatic red “forties-style, formal knee-length dress” as she described it, was at the stock exchange with members of the Federation of
Indian Associations (New York, New Jersey & Connecticut) to ring the opening bell in honour of India’s Independence Day.
If Zinta’s fans were thrilled to see her ring the bell and then step out into Times Square for the traditional photo-op that follows, Nasdaq had reason to be pleased as well, at another step in raising its profile with the Indian community, both here and in India.
FIA, which had invited Zinta to be the grand marshal at its India Day Parade in Manhattan on August 15, and to the Nasdaq on Tuesday, said Nasdaq was going beyond honouring the organisation through its invitation to ring the opening bell.
Says Nirav Mehta, President of FIA: “Nasdaq understands the importance of the entrepreneurial skills of the Indian community and wants to promote listings of Indian companies. They are reaching out through us.”
Ambitious plans to get a number of Indian companies listed at the exchange have stalled over the last few years due to the severe economic slowdown in the US, as well as a more favourable climate in India. But, Nasdaq wants to make inroads into what it sees as a promising market, even as investors are looking to diversify into this emerging economy.
Nasdaq claims eight Indian or Indian American companies listed on the exchange, with a combined market capitalisation of $35 billion. Last week, it added India’s largest online travel company, MakeMyTrip, after its hugely successful IPO.
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This was the sixth time in just this year that Indians have rung either the opening or closing bell at Nasdaq, not counting other occasions when teams from Indian American companies were invited to the ceremonies. In contrast, there were only two Indian guests in 2009, apart from other Indian American companies such as EXL Services.
| HONOUR LIST 2010 Aug 17: Federation of Indian Associations, Preity Zinta- Opening bell Aug 16: Prabhu Dayal, Indian Consul-General, New York-Closing bell Aug 12: Deep Kalra, CEO, MakeMyTrip-Opening bell Jul 12: Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia, Puneet Mehta, Partners, MyCityWay -Closing bell Feb 9: Francisco D'Souza, CEO, Cognizant-Opening bell Feb 1: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol -Opening bell |
The rival New York Stock Exchange, which actually has a lion’s share of Indian ADRs, with nearly a dozen Indian companies listed, has been less aggressive in courting Indians to ring the bell at its historic Wall Street location. Nasdaq kicked off this year’s action in February, with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol becoming the first Indian actors to ring the bell at a US stock exchange, when they did the honours to coincide with the release of their film My Name is Khan. The pace really picked up in July and August.
Part of the reason for this could be that Wall Street goes on vacation at this time of the year and there are fewer corporate heavyweights left in town. But, Nasdaq clearly hopes this Indian summer will lead to rich pickings — of goodwill for now, and more business in the long run.