The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished less than 0.1% higher at 39,170.36.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell by 0.2% to 5,464.61, as did the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which ended the day at 17,689.36.

“I think that because of Juneteenth, you have a lot of people who are leaving to go on vacation early,” Sam Stovall from the financial intelligence firm CFRA told AFP, referring to Wednesday’s federal holiday.

Stovall predicted that stocks could see another decline of 5% or more.

“At the same time, I’m not calling for a new bear market, so don’t let your emotions be your portfolio’s worst enemy,” he said.

Fresh data published earlier on Friday showed that existing home sales fell by 0.7% in May from a month earlier, as prices reached a record high.

Nvidia, which briefly surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company earlier this week, saw its share price fall for the second day running, finishing the day down 3.2%.

It was not all bad news for US firms though, with McDonald’s closing up 2.2%, and Nike finishing the day 1.7% higher.