NEW YORK (AFP) - The major US stock indices finished slightly lower on Friday (Nov 18) as a post-election rally appeared to lose steam.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all finished 0.2 per cent lower but they were still up over the prior week.

The blue-chip Dow, which hit successive records since President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory last week, settled at 18,867.93.

The broader S&P 500 finished at 2,181.90 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at 5,321.51.

The Dow was dragged down in part by declining prices for pharmaceuticals. Merck fell 1.3 per cent, Pfizer gave up 0.8 per cent and Johnson & Johnson lost 0.4 per cent.

Insurance giant UnitedHealth Group also lost 0.9 per cent.

While tech stocks rose sharply earlier in the week, they retreated on the final trading day of the week.

Google parent Alphabet sank 1.3 per cent, Facebook lost 0.7 per cent and the biotech company Amgen was down 1.4 per cent.