Investing.com – Wall Street traded lower on Friday as bulls took a breather near record highs while market participants digested a smattering of mixed economic data and retail earnings.
At 11:01AM ET (16:01GMT), the Dow Jones lost 45 points, or 0.21%, the S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.21%, while the Nasdaq Composite gave up 14 points, or 0.24%.
The Dow was on track to break a 10-session winning streak, its longest since 1987, and investors took profits in the S&P 500 with the global benchmark index up more than 10% since the U.S. election last November.
Economic data gave mixed readings with new home sales rising less than expected in January.
However, the University of Michigan revised its consumer sentiment index up higher than forecast, although it was the first monthly decrease since the elections as the report indicated that Democrats expect a recession while Republicans foresee robust growth.
Investors are hoping that President Trump will provide more details on his tax reform plan when he addresses a joint session of Congress next Tuesday.
As fourth quarter earnings season finally nears its end in a week awash with numbers from retailers, results priced in on Friday were also mixed.
On the upside, Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) soared nearly 8% after reporting earnings-per-share of $1.37, beating consensus by five cents.
However, JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) saw shares tumble more than 8% after the department store chain saw a drop in comparable sales.
Meanwhile, oil prices slipped on Friday on profit-taking after official data released a day earlier showed stockpiles rose last week for a seventh straight week and while investors looked ahead to the latest reading on U.S. drilling activity from Baker Hughes.
The oil field services provider said last week the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by six, the fifth weekly increase in a row. That brought the total count to 597, the most since November 2015.
U.S. crude futures lost 0.62% to $54.11 by 11:03AM ET (16:03GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.83% to $56.11.