Wall Street steadies near record highs

U.S. stock indices steadied at the open today, inching down to gather momentum after hitting record highs recently and triggering profit-taking efforts ahead of the weekend.
 
U.S. president Donald Trump about finishing up a "phenomenal" corporate tax plan helped stocks surge recently, adding to Fed Chair Yellen's bullish statements about the U.S. economy.
 
But after Yellen kept the door open for a rate hike in the Fed's next March meeting, stocks dithered and traders started closing their positions to collect profits.
 
The dollar returned lower today for the second session in a row, after hitting a five-week high yesterday, which buoys shares of American exporters and pushes Wall Street into a dithering state.
 
Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.16%, or 3.67 points to 2,345.58, while Dow Jones inched down 0.02%, or 4.71 points to 20,607.15.
 
Tech-heavy NASDAQ added 0.01%, or 0.13 points to 5,819.57.