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Over 2,000 stocks are covered in the index, of which over 1,600 are from United States corporations and over 360 are foreign listings; however foreign companies are very prevalent among the largest companies in the index: of the 100 companies in the index having the largest market capitalization (and thus the largest impact on the index), more than half (55) are non-U.S. issues.
The index was originally given a value of 50 points, based on the market closing on December 31, 1965, and is weighted by the number of shares listed for each issue. It was re-introduced in January 2003 with a value of 5,000 points. The NYSE Composite outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500 in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and closed above the 10,000 level for the first time on June 1, 2007. The NYSE Composite set a closing high of 10,311.61 on October 31, 2007, but failed to pass the intra-day high of 10,387.17 it reached in trading on October 11, 2007. On September 29, 2008, continuing troubles in the financial sector culminated in a loss of more than 8%. On November 20, 2008, the index plummeted below 5,000 to a multi-year bear market low near 4,650. Its lifetime low (as currently calculated) stands at 347.77 points, reached in October 1974.
After a gradual and volatile recovery since 2009, the index finally set fresh nominal records at the end of 2013, closing at an all-time high of 10,406.77 on December 31.
In addition to the overall composite, there are separate indices for industrial, transportation, utility, and financial corporations.