Dow’s Win Streak Dies Despite Intel, Data

The bulls’ effort to send the Dow to its longest winning streak since 1996 came up short on Friday despite a better-than-expected consumer sentiment report.

The benchmark index still held onto a second consecutive week of gains, however, and the Nasdaq Composite inched higher thanks to Intel’s bullish guidance.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.43 points, or 0.38%, to 9544.20, the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 2.05 points, or 0.20%, to 1028.93 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 0.05 points, or 1.04%, to 2028.77.

While the Dow's run came to an end on Friday, the index gave back just a fraction of its 445-point gain over that span. The bears and even some bulls have been calling for a correction, fearing stocks have gotten too far ahead of the slowly-recovering economy. But a sizable correction has yet to materialize during the Dow's 3,000 point surge since March 9.

The modest selloff prevented the Dow from notching its first nine-day winning streak since Nov. 1996. Still, the benchmark index climbed higher for the second week in a row remains on track for its best August since 2000.

“We are certainly due for a retracement,” said NSYE trader Jason Weisberg of Seaport Securities. “But down 50, 75, or even 100 points is not a retracement that people are looking for. That tells me the bears aren’t going to have their way this week and probably won’t have it next week either.”