[4][5] The DJIA also contains fewer stocks, which could exhibit higher risk; however, it could be less volatile when the market is rapidly rising or falling due to its components being well-established large-cap companies.

As of January 30, 2025,[update] the Dow Jones Industrial Average consists of the following companies, with a weighting as shown:[7] As of November 8, 2024, the components of the DJIA have changed 59 times since its beginning on May 26, 1896.

An ETF that replicates the performance of the index is issued by State Street Corporation (NYSE Arca: DIA).

[35] In the derivatives market, the CME Group through its subsidiaries the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), issues Futures Contracts; the E-mini Dow ($5) Futures (YM), which track the average and trade on their exchange floors respectively.

Trading is typically carried out in an open outcry auction, or over an electronic network such as CME's Globex platform.

[37][38] In 1884, Charles Dow composed his first stock average, which contained nine railroads and two industrial companies that appeared in the Customer's Afternoon Letter, a daily two-page financial news bulletin which was the precursor to The Wall Street Journal.

Many of the biggest percentage price moves in the Dow occurred early in its history, as the nascent industrial economy matured.

On July 30, 1914, as the average stood at a level of 71.42, a decision was made to close the New York Stock Exchange, and suspend trading for a span of four and a half months.

[47] The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression over the next several years saw the Dow continue to fall until July 8, 1932, when it closed at 41.22,[48] roughly two-thirds of its mid-1880s starting point and almost 90% below its peak.

However, as a whole throughout the Great Depression, the Dow posted some of its worst performances, for a negative return during most of the 1930s for new and old stock market investors.

After closing above 2,000 in January 1987,[43] the largest one-day percentage drop occurred on Black Monday, October 19, 1987, when the average fell 22.61%.

On October 13, 1989, the Friday the 13th mini-crash, which initiated the collapse of the junk bond market, resulted in a loss of almost 7% of the index in a single day.

[51] During the 1980s, the Dow increased 228% from 838.74 to 2,753.20; despite the market crashes, Silver Thursday, an early 1980s recession, the 1980s oil glut, the Japanese asset price bubble, and other political distractions.

The markets contended with the 1990 oil price shock compounded with the effects of the early 1990s recession and a brief European situation surrounding Black Wednesday.

[citation needed] Between late 1992 and early 1993, the Dow staggered through the 3,000 level making only modest gains as the biotechnology sector suffered through the downfall of the Biotech Bubble; as many biotech companies saw their share prices rapidly rise to record levels and then subsequently fall to new all-time lows.

In 2002, the Dow dropped to a four-year low of 7,286 on September 24, 2002, due to the stock market downturn of 2002 and lingering effects of the dot-com bubble.

On September 15, 2008, a wider financial crisis became evident after the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers along with the economic effect of record high oil prices which had reached almost $150 per barrel two months earlier.

[59][60] A series of bailout packages, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, proposed and implemented by the Federal Reserve and United States Department of the Treasury did not prevent further losses.

Towards the latter half of 2009, the average rallied towards the 10,000 level amid optimism that the Great Recession, the United States housing bubble and the 2007–2008 financial crisis, were easing and possibly coming to an end.

[62] During the first half of the 2010s decade, aided by the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy including quantitative easing, the Dow made a notable rally attempt.

[72] Despite the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, the Dow continued its bull run from the previous decade before peaking at 29,551.42 on February 12, 2020 (29,568.57 intraday on the same day).

The index slowly retreated for the remainder of the week and into the next week, before coronavirus fears and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia sent the index into a tailspin, recording several days of losses[73] (and gains[74]) of at least 1,000 points, a typical symptom of a bear market[75] as previously seen in October 2008 during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.

[77] The market recovered in the third quarter, returning to 28,837.52 on October 12, 2020, and peaked momentarily at a new all-time high of 29,675.25 on November 9, 2020, at 14:00 ET, following that day's announcement of the success of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Phase III clinical trials.

On November 24, following news that the presidential transition of Joe Biden was approved, the Dow increased by more than 500 points, closing at 30,046.24.

The divisor is adjusted in case of stock splits, spinoffs or similar structural changes, to ensure that such events do not in themselves alter the numerical value of the DJIA.

Events such as stock splits or changes in the list of the companies composing the index alter the sum of the component prices.

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.

For example, during September–October 2008, former component AIG's reverse split-adjusted stock price collapsed from $22.76 on September 8 to $1.35 on October 27; contributing to a roughly 3,000-point drop in the index.