Bank of America, Chevron to Join Dow Industrials

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. and Chevron Corp. will replace Altria Group Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the first changes in the U.S. stock benchmark since April 2004.

The revisions in the 111-year-old gauge were prompted by Altria's spinoff of Kraft Foods Inc. last March and the planned divestiture of its overseas tobacco unit next month, according to a statement today from Dow Jones Indexes, a unit of News Corp.

The addition of Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank by market value, and Chevron, the country's second-largest fuel producer, reflect the growing importance of financial and energy companies in the U.S. stock market. Those industries represent a smaller slice of the 30-member Dow average than they do in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

"While people follow the S&P 500 to get a broad feel for the market, the Dow Jones is still the average people recognize," said Keith Wirtz, who oversees about $22 billion as chief investment officer of Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati. "They just want an average that more accurately reflects the corporate landscape."

Bloomberg