Which U.S. stock-market index, created in 1896, tracks 30 prominent companies?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the U.S. stock-market index created in 1896 that tracks 30 prominent companies.

Charles Dow, co-founder of Dow Jones & Company, created the index as a way to represent leading industrial businesses. The original Dow in 1896 contained 12 companies; it expanded to 20 in 1916 and reached 30 constituents in 1928. Its components are selected by a committee rather than by a fixed market-capitalization formula.

The Dow is price-weighted, meaning a stock with a higher share price has more influence on the index than a lower-priced stock with the same company value. This differs from market-capitalization-weighted indexes, where larger total company values generally carry greater influence. The divisor is adjusted for stock splits and other corporate actions to preserve continuity.

Despite its historical importance, the Dow covers far fewer companies than broad U.S. benchmarks. It is therefore a prominent market indicator, not a complete measure of every publicly traded American company.