Dow on track for longest record-setting streak since ’87

If you thought Wall Street was running out of “record high” statistics, you would have been wrong. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was on track to notch its ninth record close in a row on Wednesday, which would mark the longest such streak in three decades.

The blue-chip average, which is among the oldest US equities barometers, ticked up by 0.2 per cent in mid-afternoon trading as investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy-setting meeting.

If it manages to hold the gains, it would knock out the eight-session streak that was notched in 2013, and become the longest run since January 1987, according to Bloomberg data.

Notably, the enthusiasm wore out not too much after the 1987 streak, when the Dow crashed by 22.6 per cent on October 19 also remembered as “Black Monday” (it was the biggest per cent decline in the history of the index).

This time around, investors remain optimistic on the stock market. They point to brightening global economic growth conditions, strong corporate earnings and hope that US President Donald Trump will unveil pro-business policies as factors that support the record peaks.

However, some strategists have also warned recently that at least a minor pullback could be in the works, with the valuation of the S&P 500 having last week reached its highest point since 2004.