Winning streak ends for Dow Jones
US investors pocketed profits in choppy trading today, ending a seven-week winning streak for the Dow Jones industrial average.
Although the Nasdaq composite index closed marginally higher for the day, it was down for the week after six straight weeks of advances.
The Standard & Poor’s 500, although down for the day, ended narrowly higher for a ninth consecutive week.
Strong results from Microsoft gave the market a boost early in the session, but shares drifted lower throughout the day.
After so many weeks of gains, there was growing concern about valuations, and investors seemed intent on locking in profits.
Most analysts remain upbeat about the market over the long term, however.
The Dow closed down 54.89, or 0.5%, at 10,568.29, for a weekly loss of 0.3%.
The Nasdaq closed up 4.86, or 0.2%, at 2,123.87, but was down 0.8% for the week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed down 2.39, or 0.25, at 1,141.55, but logged a 0.1% gain for the week.
Wall Street is about halfway through a highly anticipated earnings season, and more than 100 companies in the S&P are expected to report results next week.
Overall, profits are expected to be 20% higher than last year, but many of these gains may already be reflected in stock prices, analysts say.
Despite that, the news has been generally good, said Susan Malley, chief investment officer for Malley Associates Capital Management.
AT&T closed down 70 cents at 19.70 after Lehman Brothers cut its rating. The telephone service provider beat analysts’ forecasts in earnings released last night, but its revenues were down amid long distance price wars, competition from mobile phones and weak business demand.
Eastman Kodak lost 1.07 to 29.88 after gaining 13% yesterday on high hopes for its restructuring plan. Kodak, which beat expectations for the quarter, is shifting its focus from traditional film to the digital photography market, and plans to cut up to 15,000 jobs this year.
