US: Stocks dip as market eyes end to strong

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks fell slightly early Friday as profit taking again weighed on the market in the final trading day of a strong year for American equity investors.

US stocks have mostly fallen this week in low-volume holiday trading, as investors cashed in on banks and some high-flying technology stocks that helped propel the markets to multiple records in December.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to break through the 20,000-milestone, after starting the year at 17,425.03, but broad-based S&P 500 was up about 10 per cent on the year heading into Friday's session.

Fifteen minutes into trading, all the major US indices had dipped by about 0.1 per cent: the Dow was down to 19,815.90, the S&P 500 to 2,248.10, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index to 5,427.25.

Investors remain broadly optimistic about the prospects for President-elect Donald Trump to enact pro-growth policies in 2017, but say Mr Trump will need to follow through and corporate earnings will need to rise to justify the jump in valuations since the election.

Mylan gained 1.6 per cent as it launched a generic version of Concerta, which treats attention-deficit disorder and narcolepsy.

Hunting and fishing retailer Cabelas fell 5.7 per cent as it disclosed that US antitrust regulators had requested additional information regarding its planned takeover by Bass Pro Shops.

AFP