Overall, investors have remained optimistic about the US economic outlook, as well as for corporate profits.
In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14 per cent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.08 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.31 per cent.
The S&P 500 could reach 1,900 in the next quarter, money manager Laszlo Birinyi told Bloomberg. "We've had a little bit of a detour and the road isn't as smooth as it has been, but we still think the rally is intact," Birinyi said.
US Treasuries moved higher, pushing the yield on the 10-year bond 1 basis point lower to 2.67 per cent.
Slides in shares of UnitedHealth, last 2.1 per cent weaker, and those of Exxon Mobil, last 1.1 per cent lower, led the decline in the Dow.
Shares of McDonald's also fell, last down 0.9 per cent, as the company reported a decline in same-store sales for the third straight month citing "broad-based challenges including severe winter weather."
Meanwhile, shares Apple gained, last up 1.9 per cent, after Carl Icahn dropped his call for the company to buy back US$50 billion of its shares.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a gain of less than 0.1 per cent from the previous close. France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 per cent, while the UK's FTSE 100 added 0.3 per cent. Germany's DAX slipped 0.1 per cent.
Here, shares of L'Oreal, up 4.5 per cent, helped boosted the market. Nestle was said to explore ways to reduce its 29 per cent stake in the biggest cosmetics maker, Bloomberg News reported.