There will be six indices. The ISEQ All Bond Index will cover bonds of all maturities while there will be additional sub-indices covering bonds with maturities of under three years; under five years; under ten years; over five years and over ten years. The indices, which have been backdated to March 2003, will be calculated each Exchange business day at 16:30 and will provide instant detail on how the bond market has performed across the full range of maturities.
Currently, there are 15 different Irish Government bonds listed on the Irish Stock Exchange with maturities ranging from 2005 to 2020. The current capitalisation of the bond market is approximately euro 34 billion and in the most recent half-year period to the end of June 2005 the average daily turnover on the bond market was euro 204 million.
Commenting on the introduction of the new suite of bond market indices, Irish Stock Exchange Chief Executive Tom Healy said: “We are introducing this suite of indices to facilitate both domestic and international investors in Irish Government bonds. We believe that the ability to track the performance of the bond market will make Irish Government bonds even more attractive to investors and from our contacts with primary dealers, brokers and investors, it is clear that the ISEQ-BIS indices will be a valuable addition to the information we supply the market.”
