By Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Dow industrials on track to rise 5.3% so far in 2017

U.S. stocks on Thursday were flirting with modest gains, with the Dow industrials and S&P 500 staring down records, but tech and industrial stocks struggled amid persistent concerns about lofty valuations and the prospects for fiscal stimulus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average , which had fluctuated between slight gains and losses earlier, was last up 48 points, or 0.2%, at 20,823, led by gains in health-care stocks Pfizer Inc.(PFE) and Johnson & Johnson Inc.(JNJ). The average hit an all-time high of 20,840.70 early in the session.

The blue-chip average has closed at records for nine straight sessions, the longest such streak since 1987. If 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, also gyrated, and was last up 2 points to 2,365, led by gains in the utilities and telecom shares, but weighed by the industrials and materials sectors even as manufacturing CEOs met with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-manufacturers-whose-ceos-met-trump-today-are-slumping-led-by-us-steel-2017-02-23).The benchmark index set a intraday record of 2,368.00 before retreating.

"Investor sentiment [in industrials] is fixated on one thing: when the first shovels go in the ground," said Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at Convergex, in emailed comments. "It wouldn't be a big deal if the only issue were a six-month delay. The real concern is that other parts of the Trump plan will suck up all the political capital and leave infrastructure spending with the scraps."

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite dipped 25 points, or 0.4%, to 5,835, not that far from its own intraday trading record, weighed down by shares of Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Tesla Inc.(TSLA) The tech sector fell 0.1%, and was looking to snap a 13-day winning streak, the longest such streak ever for the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK).

It is worth noting that if the Nasdaq closes down for a second day in a row, it would be the first time in 2017 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-nasdaq-composite-is-threatening-to-snap-one-bullish-2017-win-streak-2017-02-23) that the index has seen back-to-back declines.

"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."

Markets have been in an uptrend since 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.

Read:Mnuchin says the stock market is a report card. Here's where you can find the grade (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mnuchin-says-the-stock-market-is-a-report-card-heres-where-you-can-find-the-grade-2017-02-23)

Even with Trump's shake-up of the White House and Washington, stocks appear to be taking the perceived chaos in stride given the promises of tax reform and deregulation, said Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone's multiasset investment group, in a Thursday note.

"Nobody expects [Trump] to get his entire program enacted, but his economic efforts will be viewed as a success if even half is put in place and growth increases 1% with only modest inflation and a minor increase in the budget deficit," Wien said. "That's what the stock market is telling us is going to happen, and let's hope the stock market is right."

Oil rally: An oil price (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-regain-momentum-us-supply-data-ahead-2017-02-23)rally (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-regain-momentum-us-supply-data-ahead-2017-02-23), settling up 1.6% at $54.45 a barrel, helped to lift shares of U.S. energy giants. Crude oil climbed 1.4%, shrugging off data that showed crude inventories rose by 600,000 barrels in the latest week, a bearish sign for demand.

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 1%, while shares of Transocean Ltd. (RIG) gained 7.2% and Valero Energy Corp.(VLO) advanced 1.8%.

Stock movers: Among other stock-market movers, shares of Tesla dropped 5.8% 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 9.4% after a round of bearish analyst comments prompted investors to take profits from the highflying 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 the other hand, shares of HP Inc.(HPQ) rallied 8.8% after quarterly results topped Wall Street estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hp-revenue-grows-on-pc-sales-but-challenges-ahead-2017-02-22). Also, shares of First Solar Inc.(FSLR) led S&P 500 gainers, rising 11%.

On a downbeat note, shares of L Brands Inc.(LB)sank 15% 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 5.2% 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 0.6% 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 finished down 0.1%.

Gold prices rose 1.5% to settle at $1,251.40, their best finish in three months (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-snaps-losing-streak-as-fed-rate-hike-speed-gets-a-rethink-2017-02-23), while silver was up 0.9%. The ICE Dollar indexwas slightly lower at 101.01.

--Sara Sjolin in London contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2017 15:34 ET (20:34 GMT)

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