Stocks traded sideways as President Donald Trump took the oath of office Friday.
U.S. equities rose in choppy trade, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining about 60 points after rising more than 100 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq advanced 0.25 percent. But all three major indexes hit session lows as Trump began his first speech as president.
The broader stock market has rallied significantly since Trump's shocking electoral victory on the hopes of more government spending, lower corporate taxes and deregulation of some sectors.
The Trump administration will have to start delivering on these expectations for stocks to remain at current levels, said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets. "Traders are no longer going to monitor his words closely, but the actual actions. The bigger question is if he can get the Congress to wear the same hat," he said.
Expectations for a stronger economy have not only been bolstered by policy hopes from the new administration, but also by the slew of better-than-expected economic data.
Weekly jobless claims remain around their lowest levels in decades, while the consumer price index rose 2.1 percent in December on a year-over-year basis. In fact, the Citi U.S. Economic Surprise index has risen to its highest level since 2014. A higher reading on the index indicates more positive economic data surprises.