The Dow hit an all-time high for the third straight day on Wednesday, helped by a surge in industrial stocks, but a drop in technology heavyweights kept the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq firmly in negative territory. The S&P 500 industrial sector rose 0.52 percent to a record high, helped by a report that showed a strong jump in orders for durable goods in October due to demand for machinery and other equipment.
Caterpillar rose as much as 2.8 percent to a near 2-year high of $96.26. Another boost to the sector was Deere, which rose 10 percent after the farm equipment maker reported a much smaller-than-expected decline in profit.
The industrial sector had risen 6.7 percent since the US election on bets that President-elect Donald Trump's policies such as higher spending on infrastructure would benefit the industry.
The S&P and the Nasdaq were dragged down by a more than 1 percent decline in index heavyweights Microsoft, Alphabet, Facebook and Apple.
The technology index was down 0.7 percent. Apple was the top drag on all three main Wall Street indexes.
At 11:03 am ET (1703 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 38.97 points, or 0.2 percent, at 19,062.84, near its all-time high of 19,066.25.
The S&P 500 was down 3.17 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,199.77 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 22.14 points, or 0.41 percent, at 5,364.21.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the real estate sector's 1 percent drop. Healthcare declined 0.65 percent.