Chevron, BofA Added to Dow

Chevron, BofA Added to Dow
Monday February 11, 2008 10:06 am ET Dow Jones Drops Honeywell, Altria (MO) From Industrial Average; to Add Chevron, Bank of America

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bank of America Corp. and Chevron Corp. will replace Honeywell International Inc. and Altria Group Inc. on the Dow Jones industrial average next week, Dow Jones & Co. said Monday.

The changes to the blue chip index of 30 stocks are intended to better reflect which industries have greater influence over the economy and stock market, Dow Jones said.

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, N.C., is the nation's biggest bank by deposits, and Dow Jones said the financial industry does not have enough representation in the index.

Dow Jones said it added Chevron, an energy company based in San Ramon, Calif., to the index because of the oil and gas industry's growing importance to the global economy.

Dow Jones said Altria is being shed from the index because the company, which makes Marlboro cigarettes through its Philip Morris Cos. unit, has become a "much smaller and more narrowly focused company." Altria has spun off its Kraft Foods Inc. subsidiary as a separate company, and is currently splitting its international business from its U.S. business.

Honeywell is being dropped because it is the smallest company on the index by revenue and profit, Dow Jones said. Plus, industrial companies have become less important to the stock market, Dow Jones said.

The changes are effective Feb. 19. Dow Jones said this is the first change in the makeup of the index in almost four years.

Chevron shares rose 31 cents to $79.57 in morning trading, while BofA shares fell 74 cents to $41.85. Honeywell fell 49 cents to $57.34 and Altria fell 45 cents to $72.64.

Dow Jones said it will make mathematical changes to the way it computes the value of the index before Feb. 19 so that the change in components will not affect the index's level.