AboutWhat is the Dow Jones Industrial?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks 30 large, well-established US companies considered representative of the overall US economy. Despite its narrow constituent set, the "Dow" remains the most widely-quoted US equity index in mainstream news because of its long history and headline simplicity.
HistoryOrigin & evolution
Created by Charles Dow on 26 May 1896 with just 12 stocks, the Dow is the oldest continuously-running US stock index. It is price-weighted, a higher-priced stock has greater influence than a lower-priced one regardless of company size, a legacy of an era before computers made market-cap weighting practical.
