DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices today announced the launch of the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Dividend Index which is designed to measure the performance of the highest yielding, Shariah-compliant stocks from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region that meet respective liquidity, dividend growth, and dividend sustainability criteria. 

The S&P GCC Composite Shariah Dividend Index universe is drawn from the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index which offers investors a comprehensive Shariah-compliant benchmark for the six GCC Arab states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The S&P GCC Composite Shariah Dividend Index is comprised of the 30 highest yielding stocks from the eligible universe, subject to a minimum of two stocks per country. The Index constituents are weighted by their indicated annual dividend yield.

"Dividend indices have been very popular given the low interest rate environment," says Michael Orzano, Associate Director of global equity indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The S&P GCC Composite Shariah Dividend Index was developed based on feedback from Islamic GCC investors who are looking for equity income while remaining Shariah-compliant."

For more information on the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Dividend Index, please visit: www.spdji.com.

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices