Wall St inches to records

Wall Street climbed to record highs following the French presidential elections.

Wall Street was mixed, after climbing to record highs earlier in the day, following the French presidential elections.

In 3.16pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 0.01 per cent lower, while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 0.03 per cent. In 3.02pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.07 per cent.

Earlier in the session the S&P 500 touched a record high 2,401.36, while the Nasdaq reached a record 6,106.12.

"We remain largely constructive of the equity market and view that the path of least resistance is higher," Bill Northey, chief investment officer at Private Client Group of US Bank, told Reuters.

In the Dow, declines in shares of DuPont and those of Goldman Sachs, down 1.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively, offset gains in shares of Apple and those of Exxon Mobil, recently up 3 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. Shares of Chevron also rose, up 0.7 per cent in late afternoon trading.

Meanwhile, shares of Tyson Foods slumped, trading 6.2 per cent weaker as of 1.52pm in New York, after the US meat processor posted a larger-than-expected slide in quarterly profit because "ongoing challenges" in its prepared foods unit and fires at its chicken plants.

Net income attributable to Tyson fell to US$340 million in the second quarter, down from US$432m in the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

"Our Prepared Foods segment results were negatively affected by the ongoing challenges in our pizza toppings and ingredients meats businesses discussed last quarter," Tom Hayes, Tyson's chief executive officer, said in the statement. "We expect our results to improve as we continue to address operational efficiency and capacity through fiscal year 2018."

"Unfortunately, we experienced fires in two chicken plants in our second quarter," Hayes said. "Had it not been for the fires, our Chicken segment return on sales would have been within its normalised range."

In fresh corporate deal news, Coach said it agreed to buy rival handbag maker Kate Spade for US$2.4 billion. Shares of Kate Spade jumped 8.3 per cent as of 3.26pm in New York, while those of Coach shares climbed 5.4 per cent.

"Kate Spade has a truly unique and differentiated brand positioning with a broad lifestyle assortment and strong awareness among consumers, especially millennials," Victor Luis, CEO of Coach, said in a statement.

In Europe the Stoxx 600 Index ended the session with a 0.1 per cent decline from the previous close. Germany's DAX Index slipped 0.2 per cent, while France's CAC40 Index slid 0.9 per cent.

The UK's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.1 per cent.

In France, centrist Emmanuel Macron defeated anti-euro nationalist Marine Le Pen in presidential elections, as had been predicted in the polls.

"Fading political risk in France adds to the chance that euro-zone economic growth can surprise to the upside this year," Holger Schmieding, an analyst at Berenberg Bank, told Reuters.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, also offered positive news, with a report showing the nation's factory orders grew for a second straight month.