Investing.com - It was a mixed session on Wall Street as U.S. equities closed mostly lower after Financials took a breather, despite another record close for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
At the open U.S. stocks were on course for a record sixth session close, after the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit intraday all-time highs but gains were short lived as the S&P and Nasdaq snapped a 7-day winning streak.
Financials, the best performing sector in recent sessions, weighed on upside momentum.
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC.N), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC.N), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM.N) and Citigroup (NYSE:C.N) closed lower and failed to capitalize on another bout of strong U.S. economy data.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims increased by 5,000 to 239,000 in the week ending February 11 from the previous week’s total of 234,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 11,000 to 245,000 last week.
Elsewhere, President Donald Trump’s first solo conference didn’t have a significant impact on markets, as Trump announced R. Alexandra Acosta as his new Labor secretary choice.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly higher, up around 8 points at 20,619. The S&P 500 shed 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 0.08%.
In corporate earnings news: Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 85 cents, in-line with expectations but ultimately closed lower at $89.44
The top gainers for the session included Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) up 7.7%, NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) up 4.2%; and International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF) added 4.1%.
TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) down 9%, Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) down 4.2% and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) slumped 3.7%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.