While you were sleeping: UPDATED Wall St mixed as caution follows records

US Treasurys advanced, while Wall Street was mixed, as investors weighed the impact of political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic on corporate profits.

Gold, another safe-haven investment, also gained with futures for April delivery closing up 0.3% at $US1239.50 an ounce. Gold is up nearly 8% since the start of the year..

Wall Street fluctuated even as the latest round of corporate earnings has generally exceeded expectations. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq touched record highs the previous day.

At the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 35.95 points, or 0.2%, at 20,054.34, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.07% to 2294.67.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.15% to 5682.45.

It's the first quarter in eight that S&P 500 Index profits will rise fast enough to pronounce an end to the earnings recession, according to Bloomberg.

However, investors have been cautious.

"Companies that have beaten expectations haven't been rewarded as much as usual, at least so far this earnings season," Dan Suzuki, senior equity strategist at Bank of America's Merrill Lynch unit, told Bloomberg.

Financials lead Dow drop
Financial stocks led the drop in the Dow with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs losing 9% and 8% respectively. These outweighed gains in Nike and Verizon shares, trading 1.4% and 0.9% higher. 

In the latest deal news, shares of Tesaro jumped 13.4%. The US biopharmaceutical company is discussing its options with investment banks after receiving acquisition interest from several drug makers, Reuters reported.

Tesaro is not actively exploring a sale as there is a significant gap over the company's valuation between Tesaro and potential acquirers, according to Reuters.

However, Tesaro is speaking to investment banks, including Citigroup about its strategy and how to best respond to such overtures.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell to 2.349% from 2.389% on Tuesday. 

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day with a 0.3% gain from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 Index edged 0.04% higher, while France's CAC 40 Index added 0.3%. Germany's DAX Index slipped 0.05%.

Shares of Syngenta rose after the Swiss seeds and pesticide maker that is being bought by China National Chemical for $US43 billion said both companies were confident the deal would close.

"ChemChina and Syngenta have made significant progress towards achieving the necessary regulatory approvals and closing the transaction," Syngenta said in a statement discussing its latest earnings.

Both companies were "confident of its closure," Syngenta said, adding it expected it to close in the second quarter. Syngenta shares closed 1.1% higher in Zurich.

(BusinessDesk)