U.S. stocks fall short of record highs
U.S. stocks, only a few points shy of reaching new highs on Friday, slid backward from the goal.
All three major U.S. stock indexes slipped, led by declines in health care companies and makers of consumer goods. Drug companies fell the most, but small-company stocks continued to surge.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 36 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,868. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,182. The Nasdaq composite shed 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,322.
Nevertheless, as investors apparently get used to the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency and a positive corporate earnings season, they pushed up stocks for the week. For the week, the Dow picked up 20 points, or 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 rose 17 points, or 0.8 percent. And Nasdaq jumped 84 points, or 1.6 percent.
Initial preelection forecasts indicated a huge sell-off if Trump won. But the president-elect’s calming words in his victory speech focused Wall Street on the possible economic boost from his infrastructure building plans.
The market kept watch on oil prices on Friday and waited for remarks by several Federal Reserve officials on monetary policy, following Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s congressional testimony Thursday that the economy is sufficiently robust to withstand a new interest rate hike in the near future.
Oil prices appear to be on the rise again, after tumbling to $46 per barrel from $52 a month ago. Energy weakness has been a big drag on stocks this year.