( also the Dow-Jones Index , also infml the Dow )
any of several numbers produced on each day of trade by the New York Stock Exchange . They each represent the total average price of the shares of certain specific companies. The Dow began in 1884 and is used to measure the strength of the US stock market. The numbers are in points, not dollars. Four separate averages are given, and the most important is the Dow-Jones Industrial Average , based on 30 major companies.
Compare Financial Times Indices .