US stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors paused following a two-day rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 20,000 mark, while the latest wave of earnings rolled in. Qualcomm weighed on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq as the chipmaker fell 5.0 percent to USD54.05 after posting a lower-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue.

The post-election rally reignited this week following a solid start to earnings season and optimism over US President Donald Trump's pro-growth initiatives, giving the benchmark S&P 500 its best two-day performance in seven weeks and catapulting the Dow above 20,000 for the first time.

Trump's business-friendly decisions since taking office on Friday include signing executive orders to reduce regulatory burden on domestic manufacturers and clearing the way for the construction of two oil pipelines. Early fourth-quarter earnings have also boosted sentiment and are now expected to show growth of 7 percent, their biggest increase in two years, according to Thomson Reuters data.