US stocks lower as Trump enthusiasm lessens

[NEW YORK] US equities were lower in early trade Friday as a bounce of post-election enthusiasm for Donald Trump's White House victory appeared to wane among investors.

A half hour into trading, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than a tenth of a per cent at 18,790.75.

The broader S&P 500 was 0.4 per cent lower at 2,158.80 and the Nasdaq stood at 5,183.57, 0.5 per cent below Thursday's close.

The Dow hit an all-time high on Thursday, as investors reacted jubilantly to news of Trump's clinching the US presidency.

However the Nasdaq, tied in large measure to the fortunes of Silicon Valley, on fears of poor relations with a Trump administration, finished 0.8 per cent lower.

Disney shares were up 2.5 per cent on Friday despite posting disappointing quarterly results the day before, with operating income falling 13 per cent to $1.45 billion on declining ad revenue for the sports broadcaster ESPN.

Department store chain JC Penney was down 0.9 per cent, recovering somewhat from a poor start after missing forecasts and reporting falling sales in the most recent quarter. Other retailers were also in negative territory, with Wal-Mart Stores down 0.6 per cent and Sears 2.7 per cent lower. But Home Depot rose 0.4 per cent.

Unease in Silicon Valley appeared to persist, with Facebook and Google parent Alphabet both moving 1.5 per cent lower, Microsoft losing 0.7 per cent and Apple off 0.1 per cent.

Stocks were also lower in the oil and pharmaceutical sectors. Pfizer fell 1.8 per cent while Eli Lilly 0.7 per cent. Exxon Mobil lost 1.1 per cent and Chevron 0.9 per cent.

AFP