Index provider Dow Jones has launched a series of global sector-based blue-chip indices designed to allow investors to target the world’s biggest and best-known companies in eighteen market sectors.

The Dow Jones Sector Titans Indexes will each be composed of 30 stocks selected by free-float market capitalisation, revenues, net income, book value and assets.
Dow Jones says that while there may only be 30 stocks per sector, each index will still cover at least 50% of the underlying market cap of the sector.

Additionally, the weighting of each component will be capped at 10% of the index’s total market cap to prevent dominance by any one company.

" Global sector investing is getting more and more important as many investors now realise that the effects of the industry and market sector events may often outweigh the effects of country-specific events.
" The Dow Jones Sector Titans Indexes are among the most actively traded stocks in the market. Their high liquidity allows the indexes to be replicated by investment managers in an efficient and cost effective manner," says David E. Moran, president of Dow Jones Indexes.

The new indices are constructed on the same basis for transparency and rules as the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 and comprise the leading companies in the following sectors: basic resources, chemicals, automobiles, cyclical goods and services, media, retail, food and beverage, non-cyclical goods & services, energy, banks, financial services, insurance, healthcare, construction, industrial goods and services, technology, telecommunications and utilities.

Historical data on the Dow Jones Sector Titans Indexes are available on a daily basis back to December 31, 1991, when each was assigned a base value of 100.
Further information on the indices, which are reviewed annually, can be found at (http://indexes.dowjones.com ).