NEW YORK CITY: Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America are losing their official blue-chip status: all three are being dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index owner announced yesterday.
Their status as leaders of their respective industries diminished, the three are to be replaced by investment bank Goldman Sachs, credit card issuer Visa and athletic wear giant Nike, S&P Dow Jones Indices said.
The changes, to take place on September 23, “were prompted by the low stock price of the three companies slated for removal and the Index Committee’s desire to diversify the sector and industry group representation of the Index,” S&P Dow Jones Indices said.
Comprised of 30 top US companies, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been one of the leading measures of the health of US stocks and somewhat of a proxy indicator for the US economy since it was created in 1896.
It is a quotient of the cumulative price of all the shares in the index, and thus can be heavily shaped buy the companies whose prices soar and sink out of line with the rest.
AFP
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