U.S. stocks tick down after record run

U.S. stocks traded lower around midday Thursday as investors became cautious after recent sharply gains.

Around noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.70 points, or 0.11 percent, to 20,588.16. The S&P 500 lost 6.87 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,342.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 16.65 points, or 0.29 percent, to 5,802.79.

On Wednesday, all three major indices ended at record highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq extended its record run to a seventh straight session, while both the blue-chip Dow and the broader S&P 500 closed at records for five consecutive days.

U.S. stocks have posted solid gains since Donald Trump won the presidential election, as investors bet that he would pursue massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending.

On the economic front, in the week ending Feb. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 239,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 234,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 245,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average.

Meanwhile, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in January came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,246,000, beating market consensus, the Commerce Department announced Thursday.

"Even with the pullback from December, housing starts are 10.5% higher at the start of this year than they were in January 2016. Home construction looks poised to continue to grow in the coming year, a positive for the housing market where one of the biggest hurdles at this stage in the recovery is still tight supply," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial. Endit