Investing.com – U.S. equities closed mostly higher on Friday, despite fears that the ‘Trumpflation trade’ was beginning to taper ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress next week while financials lagged.
The so-called ‘Trumpflation trade’ showed signs of fatigue during the session, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that President Trump’s pro-growth policies, which are viewed as inflationary, would probably have limited impact in 2017.
Financials, mostly banks, which have trended higher on President Trump’s promise of fiscal expansion and decrease regulation, slumped to session lows and capped overall upside momentum in U.S. equities.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) , Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) (NYSE:BAC.N), and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) (NYSE:JPM.N) closed lower.
Meanwhile a mixed bag of U.S. economic data had little impact on equities as US new home sales missed expectations while consumer confidence marginally beat analysts’ estimates.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted 555,000 units but missed analysts’ estimates of a 6.3% rise in January.
U.S. consumer sentiment remained upbeat, after The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index hit 96.3 in February, compared to expectations of 96.3.
Elsewhere, President Trump signed another executive order, which aims to curb regulations and help businesses but the impact on markets was limited as investors await an update from President Trump concerning his fiscal plans to boost the economy. President Donald Trump is due to address congress on Tuesday, Feb 28.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 11 points at 20,821 The S&P 500 gained 0.15% and the Nasdaq Composite ticked higher to close at 5,845 up 0.17%. The Dow posted its longest win streak since 1992.
The top S&P 500 gainers included Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) up 9.4%, and Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) up 6.1%, while Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) added 5.7%.
Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) down 12%, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) down 6.9% and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) slumped 4.5%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.