Dow Falls Below 10,000

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Dow fell below 10,000, and the major averages retreated Friday, as better than expected data and earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) did little for other stocks in a "sell the news" environment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109.13 points, or 1.1%, to 9,972.18, while the S&P 500 gave up 13.31 points, or 1.2%, to 1079.60. The Nasdaq edged down 10.82 points, or 0.5%, to 2154.47.

That was just enough to erase gains for the week, as the Dow edged down 0.2%, the S&P 500 gave up 0.7%, and the Nasdsaq lost 0.1% for the five day session.

Microsoft and Amazon shares were higher by 5.4% and 26.8%, respectively, after topping estimates and after multiple upgrades to the latter -- but it had little effect on the broader markets.

"We're getting to the end of the biggest week of earnings so far this earnings season, and with the exception of a few stellar performers, people are selling the good news," says Michael James, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities. "The prevailing theme is that people were expecting good numbers this quarter, and as we've been getting them people are selling into the strength."

This has been particularly true for semiconductor stocks, he says, and at the same time, retailers aren't seeing any follow through from the Amazon surge.

Last, the dollar, which has had an inverse relationship with equities, was gaining ground against the pound, euro and yen.

"I think partially what you're seeing is a certain amount of nervousness," says Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com, adding that it's in part because the S&P is near a technical resistance level of 1,100.

"Earnings seem to be good, but people want to hesitate to see if there are any land mines out there," says Roberts. "We did have quite a large run without any correction, and you might see that things are settling and will not play out until we get more clarity."

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