On August 31, Exxon Mobil will be kicked off the Dow Jones Industrial Average

New York, August 26 - Neftegaz.RU. ExxonMobil has been kicked out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. Dow said the decision was due to Apple's decision to conduct a 4-for-1 stock split that takes effect on August 31. That split would have reduced the percentage of the index devoted to technology.

Exxon Mobil has been a Dow component for almost 100 years, when it was called Standard Oil of New Jersey. The change leaves ExxonMobil's fellow oil major Chevron as the only oil and gas company in the Dow.

For years, ExxonMobil was the world's largest publicly traded company. Once the largest company in the world, Exxon had a market cap of over $500 billion as recently as 2008. But it is now around $175 billion.

In response to a question from the U.S. Barron’s, Exxon said that the Dow decision won’t affect its business, which remains strong.

“This action does not affect our business nor the long-term fundamentals that support our strategy,” an Exxon spokesperson wrote. “Our portfolio is the strongest it has been in more than 2 decades, and our focus remains on creating shareholder value by responsibly meeting the world’s energy needs.”