UnitedHealth stock is adding more than 200 points to the Dow’s price

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc.
UNH,
+7.61%
are single-handedly keeping the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.47%
in positive territory, as they surged 7.2% in afternoon trading in the wake of the health insurer’s better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and full-year outlook. The stock’s price gain of $32.07, is the second-best since it went public in October 1984, behind only the record $33.21 rally seen on Nov. 4, 2020. The price gain, which was more than the combined price declines ($23.80) of the all Dow components trading lower, was adding about 211 points to the Dow’s price, as the Dow rose 130 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.11%
inched up 0.1. UnitedHealth’s stock is the highest priced component in the Dow, meaning it has the biggest influence on the price of the Dow, which is a price weighted index. For example, a similar percentage gain of 7.2% in the lowest price Dow stock, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s
WBA,
-1.70%,
would only add about 14 points to the Dow’s price.