The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), often called the Dow or Dow 30, is a stock market index that tracks 30 large, publicly owned blue-chip companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. It serves as a widely watched benchmark and a quick gauge of the overall health of the U.S. economy

. Key characteristics of the DJIA:

• It includes 30 major U.S. companies from various sectors except utilities and transportation

• The index is price-weighted, meaning stocks with higher share prices have a greater impact on the index's value than lower-priced stocks

• The DJIA is calculated by summing the prices of the 30 component stocks and dividing by a divisor (the Dow Divisor), which adjusts for stock splits and other structural changes

• It was created in 1896 by Charles Dow and Edward Jones to serve as a proxy for the broader U.S. economy

• The composition of the Dow changes over time to reflect economic shifts, replacing companies that become less relevant with those more representative of current market trends

Unlike the S&P 500, which is market-cap weighted and includes 500 companies, the Dow is limited to 30 companies and uses a price-weighted method

. In summary, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 large, influential U.S. companies, providing a snapshot of the stock market's and economy's performance