Wall St. slightly lower at open

EghtesadOnline: U.S. stocks were slightly lower at the open on Friday as investors took a breather following the Dow Jones Industrial Average's three-day winning streak, which has kept the index firmly above the 20,000 mark.

News ID: ۷۷۳۵۰۵

27 January 2017

The post-election rally reignited this week following a solid start to earnings season and optimism over President Donald Trump's pro-growth initiatives, catapulting the Dow above the milestone for the first time on Wednesday.

All three major indexes were on track to post weekly gains.

"The market has had a strong, solid rally and there's a pause to evaluate and react to the next set of data and other catalysts that could move the market," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

According to Reuters, Trump's business-friendly decisions since taking office last Friday include signing executive orders to reduce regulatory burden on domestic manufacturers and clearing the way for the construction of two oil pipelines.

"Actions speak louder than words and the fact that Trump has signed numerous executive orders since his inauguration continues to heighten hopes of the proposed fiscal stimulus measures materializing," said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.

At 10:01 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 5.99 points, or 0.03 percent, at 20,094.92. The S&P 500 .SPX was down 2.22 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,294.46. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 5.11 points, or 0.09 percent, at 5,650.07.

Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the energy index's .SPSY 0.49 percent fall leading the decliners. Chevron, which reported lower-than-expected results, was the biggest drag on the Dow and the S&P.

The S&P tech sector .SPLRCT rose 0.32 percent and was the second biggest gainer.

Microsoft (MSFT.O) rose 1.6 percent to $65.26, while Intel (INTC.O) gained 1.2 percent to $38.03 after the two companies reported quarterly results above Wall Street expectations.

However, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) was down 1.2 percent at $847.13 after it posted fourth-quarter profit below analysts' estimates.

U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter with gross domestic product increasing at a 1.9 percent annual rate, below the 2.2 percent rise expected by economists.

Another set of data showed new orders for U.S.-made capital goods increased more than expected in December, with non-defense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft, rising 0.8 percent. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.5 percent rise.

Starbucks (SBUX.O) fell 4.2 percent to $56.01 after the world's biggest coffee seller trimmed its full-year revenue forecast.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL.N) fell 5.4 percent to $64.54 after the personal products maker's fourth-quarter revenue missed estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,655 to 969. On the Nasdaq, 1,337 issues fell and 1,066 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 16 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 14 new lows.