Dow’s 10-day rally comes to an end

Associated Press

U.S. stock markets fell Friday, ending the longest winning streak for the Dow Jones industrial average in nearly 17 years.

The Dow dropped 25.03 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,514.11 The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,560.70, just shy of an all-time high from October 2007. The Nasdaq composite index dropped nearly 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,249.

The Dow had notched a 10-day winning streak through Thursday, its longest since November 1996. The string of wins pushed the blue-chip index up 484 points, or 3.4 percent, to a Thursday close of 14,539.14. The index’s closing price Feb. 28, just before the rally began, was 14,054.49.

Trading Friday was tentative because investors feared that rising inflation could cause the Federal Reserve to retreat from policies aimed at boosting markets. The government said that consumer prices increased in February at the fastest pace in more than three years.

The increase was driven by a spike in gas prices; the core index, which excludes the volatile energy and food categories, increased more modestly. But both figures rose 2 percent compared with a year earlier, enough to get investors’ attention, said Peter Tchir, who runs the hedge fund TF Market Advisors.

“It’s real, and it’s a drag, and I think people are growing concerned that it can get out of control quickly,” Tchir said. He said signs of economic improvement and inflation “make them wonder if there will be continued market pressure on the Fed” to end its bond-buying programs.

The market’s recent rally to multiyear highs was fueled in part by the Fed’s efforts to keep interest rates low and encourage investment.

The Dow’s win streak matched a 10-day run that ended Nov. 15, 1996. To find a longer uninterrupted series of gains, you would have to go back to Jan. 3, 1992, when the Dow rose for 11 consecutive days.

The index’s longest winning streak was 14 days, ending June 14, 1897.