the dow jones industrial average djia recorded its tenth consecutive positive session friday marking the index’s longest winning streak since august 2017 the blue chip index had only gained 001 at the end of the trading day friday highlighting the suspenseful nature of this milestone on friday afternoon volatility returned to the us stock market sending big tech firms tumbling in the hour before the closing bell yet the bluechip segment managed to avoid losses and eked out a small but crucial upward tick allowing it to achieve the winning streak for the week the dow jones recorded a solid 21 gain following a 23 rise in the previous week bringing the index to levels last seen in midapril 2022 the spdr dow jones industrial average etf dia the largest exchange traded fund tracking the dow closed 009 lower snapping its winning streak the dow jones’ daily top performer among its components was merck  company inc mrk which rose by 18 procter  gamble co pg followed closely gaining 16 while chevron corp cvx also exhibited strong performance with a 14 increase among the daily laggards in the dow index were technology giant microsoft corp msft which lost 09 for the overall session american express company axp which faced a more significant drop of 37 due to disappointing secondquarter results and caterpillar inc cat down 13 the increased volatility witnessed at the close was likely influenced by options expiration with approximately 23 trillion in derivative option contracts set to mature on friday moreover traders appeared to adopt a more cautious approach likely driven by anticipation of the crucial federal open market committee meeting scheduled for the week ahead the market has already factored in a 025 rate hike which would raise the borrowing cost to 52555 the highest level since early 2001 the main concern lies in the fed’s future plans as there is a prevailing belief that this might be the last rate hike in the cycle fed futures indicate a mere 16 probability of another rate increase in september and a 30 chance by november read now fed meeting preview interest rates expected to surge to 22year highs but communication on future steps is key