U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds were mixed Thursday as investors digested the record run up in the prior session.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were 0.1% lower Thursday. Weakness in technology and health care stocks dragged on the S&P 500.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to push higher to 20,087.5 at last check while Dow-related ETFs, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA), which tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Guggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DJD), which weighs the 30 Dow stocks by yield, were up 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
The Dow was strengthening after the blue-chip index of 30 stocks closed above 20,000 for the first time on Wednesday after President Donald Trump’s moves to reinforce infrastructure projects helped investors gain confidence in the administration’s ability to make good on promises like fiscal stimulus and tax cuts.
“We are witnessing a shift from what has been referred to as ‘the most hated bull market in history’ to a more optimistic attitude,” Phil Blancato, chief executive of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, told the Wall Street Journal. “The hope is that the new administration will be able to spur economic growth through regulatory rollbacks and pro-growth fiscal policy.”