Wall Street’s main indexes on Wednesday posted their best day since the November election, boosted by President Donald Trump’s more measured tone in a speech to Congress<br />and as bank stocks surged on increased chances of an interest rate hike this month.<br />(Reuters) - U. S. stocks slipped on Thursday as investors booked profits after a record day on Wall Street<br />that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 21,000 for the first time ever.<br />"Even on the Federal Reserve Board, the last of the doves is finally acknowledging<br />that if things seem strong enough we’ve got some cover here to move," Mike Mussio, president of FBB Capital Partners.<br />ET (1436 GMT) the Dow was down 27.9 points, or 0.13 percent, at 21,087.65, the S&P 500 was down 6.77 points, or 0.28 percent, at 2,389.19<br />and the Nasdaq Composite was down 16.47 points, or 0.28 percent, at 5,887.56.<br />The data supported a flurry of encouraging comments on the economy from Federal Reserve officials<br />that nudged the markets to price in higher chances of an interest rate hike in two weeks.<br />A report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed<br />that the number of Americans who applied for jobless claims fell to a 44-year low last week, pointing to continued strength in the labor market.
