Dow Jones adds Alphabet in major tech shift

Alphabet shares climbed on Monday as the Google parent made its debut in the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, ​replacing Verizon Communications, and immediately ranking among its most ‌influential members.

Its shares rose 3.7% to $350.24, offering one of the biggest boosts to the 30-member Dow.

The company replaced Verizon on the index, S&P Dow ​Jones Indices said in an announcement on June 23.

As a higher-priced ​stock, Alphabet carries more weight in the price-weighted index ⁠than Verizon did, which was one of its least influential ​members, and broadens the Dow's exposure to digital advertising, cloud ​computing and AI.

The addition lifts to five the number of 'Magnificent Seven' members in the Dow, alongside Nvidia, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.

The previous reshuffle in November 2024 ​brought in Nvidia and Sherwin-Williams, opening a new tab in place of Intel, and ​Dow Inc.

Index funds tracking the Dow must buy Alphabet to mirror the change, ‌but ⁠the demand is likely to be modest: the Dow had about $115 billion in assets indexed and benchmarked to it as of December 31, 2024, against roughly $20 trillion for the S&P 500, where ​Alphabet is already ​a member, ⁠according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Alphabet shares are up roughly 11% this year, as of last ​close, among the best performers in the Magnificent ​Seven group ⁠of tech mega-caps.

The 130-year-old Dow remains one of the most widely cited gauges of U.S. market sentiment.

Verizon shares fell 7.8% to $42.03 in ⁠a ​broad retreat in telecom stocks after Comcast ​said it would split into two publicly traded companies through a spinoff of NBCUniversal ​and Sky.

-Reuters