Wall St. off day's best levels after Trump inaugural speech

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were up but off their best levels of the session on Friday afternoon as Donald Trump's inaugural speech as U.S. President reinforced worries for some investors about future trade policies.

In his speech, Trump said U.S. policy will be to buy American and hire American.

Stocks cut gains during the speech, and some strategists said the comments fuelled investor concerns about potential protectionist trade policies under Trump, while others said the move in stocks was part of a trend to "buy the election and sell the inauguration."

The rally in stocks since the election has stalled in recent weeks as investors waited for more clarity on his plans to boost the economy. Still, Trump's transition marks one of the best performances for the American stock market for any presidential transition period of the modern era.

"I think folks priced in the good stuff in that first month and now they're worried about inflation and what's the Fed going to do, and a stronger dollar and trade wars and tariffs and the like," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, in New York.

The S&P 500 has fallen by a median 2.7 percent in the month after each new president has taken the keys to the White House since Herbert Hoover did so in January 1929, according to a Reuters analysis.

At 3:11 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 83.97 points, or 0.43 percent, to 19,816.37, the S&P 500 had gained 6.61 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,270.3 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 14.29 points, or 0.26 percent, to 5,554.37.

Trump on Friday reiterated some of his calls to put America first.

"There is a concern about what his trade policies will be," said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Colonial Heights, Richmond, Virginia.

Merck rose 3.8 percent to $62.60 after Bristol-Myers said it would not seek accelerated U.S. approval for a combination of its two immunotherapy drugs as an initial treatment for lung cancer, giving Merck an advantage in the lucrative market. Bristol-Myers' stock was down 11.3 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.90-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.52-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 72 new highs and 30 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)