By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Dow is coming off nine straight sessions of record closes

U.S. stocks fell modestly on Thursday, pulling back from intraday records as technology stocks struggled amid persistent concerns about lofty valuations and the prospects for fiscal stimulus a day after the Federal Reserve's minutes were released.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average , which fluctuated between slight gains and losses, was last up 24 points at 20,799, a move of 0.1%. The average initially traded up on the day, hitting an all-time high of 20,824.22 early in the session.

The blue-chip average has closed at records for nine straight sessions, the longest such streak since 1987. It it returns to positive territory on Thursday, it will have risen for 10 straight sessions, the first time it has done that, regardless of records, since March 2013.

See also:Charting the Dow's longest record-setting streak since 1987 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/charting-the-dows-longest-record-setting-streak-since-1987-2017-02-23)

The S&P 500 fell 3 points to 2,360, a decline of 0.1%. The benchmark index set a intraday record of 2,368.00 before retreating.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.7%, or 38 points, to 5,822, but was not far from its own intraday trading record, weighed down by shares of Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Tesla Inc.(TSLA) The tech sector fell 0.4%, looking to snap a 13-day winning streak, the longest such streak ever for the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK).

Markets have been in an uptrend since President Donald Trump's election in November, but concerns have been growing that economic fundamentals don't justify current market levels. By one measure (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/by-one-measure-stock-valuations-are-at-their-highest-level-since-2004-2017-02-17), stock valuations are at their highest level since 2004.

"Our general view for a while has been that valuations are just high, but that doesn't mean the market has to go down immediately, it just means that longer-term returns may not be as robust," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management. "In the short run we can continue our methodical grind higher, as we've been doing since the election, but the longer-term picture is looking a bit rougher."

The S&P and Nasdaq struggled for direction on Wednesday, dipping after minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting earlier this month showed central-bank policy makers are comfortable with raising rates "fairly soon." (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-minutes-show-support-for-rate-hike-fairly-soon-2017-02-22)

Oil rally: A positive spot on Thursday came as oil prices rallied (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-regain-momentum-us-supply-data-ahead-2017-02-23) and helped lift shares of U.S. energy giants. Crude oilclimbed 1.4%, shrugging off data that showed crude inventories rose by 600,000 barrels in the latest week, a bearish sign for demand.

"Energy prices have been stuck in a range for a while now," Nolte said. "If we don't see strong economic growth, it will be hard to see prices really take off from here. Investing in the sector is a hard call right now."

Read:Why oil experts think OPEC's U.S. headache won't go away this year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-experts-think-opecs-us-headache-wont-go-away-this-year-2017-02-20)

And:OPEC chief Barkindo plays down threat from rise in U.S. oil output (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/opec-chief-barkindo-plays-down-threat-from-rise-in-us-oil-output-2017-02-21)

Shares of Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)rose 0.9%, while shares of Transocean Ltd. (RIG) gained 5.3% and Valero Energy Corp.(VLO) advanced 1.5%.

Stock movers: Among other stock-market movers, shares of Tesla dropped 5.6% after the electric-car maker late Wednesday reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, though its beat sales expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-reports-wider-quarterly-loss-but-beats-sales-expectations-2017-02-22).

Nvidia shares tumbled 9.2% after a round of bearish analyst comments prompted investors to take profits from the high-flying chip maker, which has more than tripled over the past 12 months. Instinet downgraded the stock (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nvidias-stock-sinks-after-instinet-swings-to-rare-bearish-stance-2017-02-23) to reduce from buy, while BMO Capital Markets cut its price target to $85 from $100.

On a downbeat note, shares of L Brands Inc.(LB)sank 16% after the Victoria's Secret parent late Wednesday issued weaker-than-forecast guidance for 2017 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/victorias-secret-parent-shares-sink-on-weak-guidance-2017-02-22).

Hormel Foods Corp.(HRL) shares lost 7.3% after the food company cut its earnings forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hormel-foods-cuts-outlook-after-profit-decline-2017-02-23) for the year following a sharp decline in profit from its Jennie-O turkey brand.

Kohl's Corp.(KSS) shares rose 0.8% after earnings beating forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kohls-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-dividend-raised-2017-02-23).

Economic news: In the latest economic data, the number of U.S. workers who applied for unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-rise-by-6000-to-244000-2017-02-23) rose slightly in the latest week, but layoffs remained near ultralow levels last seen in the early 1970s.

See:

Other markets: Stocks in Asia closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-slide-lower-after-fed-minutes-released-2017-02-22) as investors pored over the Fed minutes.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-hunt-for-firm-direction-as-earnings-reports-pile-up-2017-02-23)bounced between gains and losses after a string of corporate updates and was last down 0.2%.

Gold prices rose 1.3% on the day, while silver was up 0.7%. The ICE Dollar indexwas slightly lower at 100.99.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2017 11:49 ET (16:49 GMT)

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