The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), often simply called "the Dow," is a stock market index that tracks the performance of 30 large, publicly owned companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq. It's one of the oldest and most widely recognized indicators of the U.S. stock market, reflecting the overall health of the economy. While the Dow is not a comprehensive representation of the entire market, it provides a snapshot of how some of the country's most influential companies are performing, influencing investor sentiment and broader financial trends. Changes in the Dow are frequently reported in the news and are often used as a benchmark for investment performance.
