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NEW YORK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks fluctuated between small gains and losses in the morning session Friday, as investors were reluctant to make bullish bets ahead of the Presidents' Day holiday.
By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.64 points, or 0.30 percent, to 20,557.13. The S&P 500 lost 4.98 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,342.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.29 point, or 0.01 percent, to 5,815.19.
U.S. stocks have posted solid gains since U.S. President Donald Trump won the presidential election, as investors bet that he would pursue massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished narrowly mixed, with the Dow extending its record run to a sixth straight day, as Wall Street digested a batch of economic reports. Till Thursday, the Dow had risen 12.5 percent since the Election Day.
Investors became cautious after recent sharp gains, as the U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.
In corporate news, shares of Deere & Company traded mildly lower around midday Friday even though the construction equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results.
The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 7.3 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.3 percent.
