Dow hits new record but Trump effect eases on Wall Street

The Dow hit a fresh record but stock gains on Wall Street slowed Friday as the bump from Donald Trump`s surprise presidential election victory eased.

With trade lightened by the Veterans day holiday, the Dow edged up 0.2 percent to a new record at 18,847.66, scoring its best week in five years.

The Nasdaq rebounded after Thursday`s tech selloff, gaining 0.5 percent at 5,237.11.

But the S&P 500 sagged under the weight of losses in the energy sector due to another sharp drop in crude oil prices.

The broad based index lost 0.1 percent at 2,164.45.

"For the most part, investors took the day off today in honor of Veterans Day," said Jack Ablin of BMO Private Bank.

"Oil came down some ... But with the bond market closed, it`s hard to really do much equity trading. So I wouldn`t take any of these moves today as any indication of a trend."

A 3.3 percent drop in the price of New York-traded WTI crude drove losses across oil stocks. Exxon fell 1.6 percent, Chevron 1.1 percent, and ConocoPhillips 1.9 percent.

The Dow`s new high came on the back of Walt Disney Co after the entertainment giant turned in disappointing earnings but promised "modest" growth and said its skidding ESPN unit was bottoming out and would show better in coming quarters.

Goldman Sachs also buoyed the blue chips with a 1.5 percent gain.

Shares of China`s online marketplace Alibaba sank 1.4 percent despite it reporting record sales of almost $18 billion on its annual Singles Day event.

Consumers spent more than $1 billion in the first five minutes of the sales, the firm said.

Also on the rise were automakers General Motors, which surged 3.9 percent, and Ford, up 2.9 percent.