Thursday's early trade: stocks slip as countdown to Trump's swearing-in begins

US stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors appeared wary of taking on too much risk ahead of Donald Trump's swearing-in as president on Friday.
The markets are also digesting a clutch of information including the European Central Bank's decision to maintain its monetary policy, while awaiting a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
After hitting a series of record highs in a post-election rally, Wall Street has been trading in a tight range as investors look for more details on Trump's policies.
The S&P 500 has not moved more than 1 percent in either direction since December 7.
Traders in the options market have grown increasingly cautious and have been loading up on defensive contracts, even as overall levels of stock market volatility are close to record lows.
"We may give Trump the benefit of doubt in the first hundred days but unless we see some legislation being passed through Congress, this hype might turn into gripe and that ends up being a trigger for the digestion of gains," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
At 11:04 am ET (1604 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 49.21 points, or 0.25 percent, at 19,755.51. The S&P 500 was down 4.96 points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,266.93 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 8.42 points, or 0.15 percent, at 5,547.24.