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NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks turned higher on Friday, with the Dow notching its 11th straight record high, as investors were awaiting President Donald Trump's speech to Congress next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 11.44 points, or 0.05 percent, to 20,821.76. The S&P 500 rose 3.53 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,367.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.80 points, or 0.17 percent, to 5,845.31.
U.S. stocks have posted sharp gains since Trump won the presidential election last November, as analysts said hopes for tax cuts and a rollback on regulations fueled the recent rally.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he wants to see a "very significant" tax reform passed before the Congress' August recess.
"We want to get this done by the August recess. We've been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we're looking at a combined plan," he said.
In corporate news, JC Penney delivered better-than-expected earnings before Friday's opening bell, but announced it will close up to 140 stores over the next few months. The department store firm's shares sank 9.11 percent around midday.
On the economic front, sales of new single-family houses in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000, according to U.S. Commerce Department on Friday.
This is 3.7 percent above the revised December rate of 535,000 but still lower than market consensus of 576,000.
The final reading of the consumer sentiment for February decreased to 96.3 from 98.5 in January, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.
