US stocks rallied for nearly two months since Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election in November, taking the Dow tantalizingly close to the historic 20,000 mark. However, some analysts warned the market was poised for a correction. "We are at the top of the range from the perspective of the Dow and the S&P, so that means we have a little bit of downside room to move, but frankly I think it will be fairly minimal," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co.
At 11:06 am ET (1606 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 54.81 points, or 0.27 percent, at 19,887.35, the S&P 500 was down 4.75 points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,266 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 3.62 points, or 0.07 percent, at 5,480.63.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with financials and consumer discretionary weighing the most on the broader index. Wells Fargo, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan - part of the financial group that has gained the most in the post-election rally, were the biggest drags on the S&P. Goldman Sachs had a similar influence on the Dow. Department stores Macy's dropped 14 percent and Kohl's nearly 18 percent after the companies cut their profit forecasts. Nordstrom and J.C. Penney lost 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively.