What is the Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA)?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a widely-watched benchmark index in the U.S. for blue-chip stocks. The DJIA is a price-weighted index that tracks 30 large, publicly-owned companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. The index was created by Charles Dow in 1896 to serve as a proxy for the broader U.S. economy.

What does DJIA stand for?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow ( / ˈdaʊ / ), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexes.

Is the DJIA a price-weighted index?

Additionally, the DJIA is criticized for being a price-weighted index, which gives higher-priced stocks more influence over the average than their lower-priced counterparts, but takes no account of the relative industry size or market capitalization of the components.

What is the DJIA & S&P 500?

Like the S&P 500, the DJIA is often used to describe the overall performance of the stock market. What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also known as the DJIA or simply the Dow, is a market index frequently used to gauge the overall performance of the U.S. stock market.