GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall St struggles for gains, Treasury yields slide amid mixed earnings, data

Updates to mid-afternoon

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were mixed and benchmark Treasury yields slid on Wednesday as disappointing earnings and mixed economic data counterbalanced easing jitters of a spreading global trade war.

The S&P 500 joined Dow in positive territory, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq remained nominally lower, as disappointing earnings from Alphabet GOOGL.O fueled doubts about the payoff of investment in artificial intelligence.

Simmering in the background were worries of escalating tit-for-tat tariff moves.

"We're seeing very choppy trading today," said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments in New York. "And we think it's reflective of this investor rollercoaster, whipsawing from the Trump administration directives, corporate earnings and economic data. All three are really keeping investors on their toes."

Markets appeared to look past U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration on Tuesday that the United States would take over the Gaza Strip, a move that underscored the likelihood of market volatility under the new administration.

On the economic front, a stronger-than-expected pick-up in ADP's private payrolls data was offset by a surprise deceleration in the services sector, while record high imports pushed the U.S. trade deficit sharply wider.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 250.64 points, or 0.56%, to 44,806.68, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 13.29 points, or 0.22%, to 6,051.17 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 12.59 points, or 0.07%, to 19,641.43.

European stocks ended the session higher, powered in part by healthcare stocks as sales of Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO blockbuster drug Wegovy more than doubled in the fourth quarter.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 3.55 points, or 0.41%, to 870.47.

The STOXX 600 .STOXX index rose 0.47%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 9.77 points, or 0.46%. Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF rose 3.60 points, or 0.33%, to 1,096.53. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed higher by 0.41%, to 576.72, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 33.11 points, or 0.09%, to 38,831.48.

U.S. Treasury yields dropped to their lowest level since mid-December in the wake of the disappointing services data, as investors continue to grapple with uncertainties arising from tariff skirmishes.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 9.7 basis points to 4.416%, from 4.513% late on Tuesday. The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield fell 11 basis points to 4.6378% from 4.748% late on Tuesday.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 3.6 basis points to 4.179%, from 4.214% late on Tuesday.

The dollar softened as risk of a global trade war appeared to wane.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.47% to 107.55, with the euro EUR= up 0.31% at $1.0409. Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 1.21% to 152.46.

The Mexican peso MXN= weakened 0.13% versus the dollar at 20.546.

The Canadian dollar CAD= strengthened 0.09% versus the greenback to C$1.43 per dollar.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC= gained 0.63% to $97,116.24. Ethereum ETH= rose 4.75% to $2,765.63.

Oil prices dropped as rising U.S. supply and worries of a new China-U.S. trade war overshadowed Trump's renewed effort to eliminate Iranian oil exports.

U.S. crude CLc1 fell 2.30% to $71.03 per barrel, while Brent LCOc1 fell to $74.61 per barrel, down 2.09% on the day.

Gold resumed its rally as trade war jitters continue to attract investors to the safe-haven metal, sending it to fresh record highs.

"Gold is one of three things; it's an inflation hedge, it's a dollar hedge or it's a disaster hedge," said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor & market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois.

"For much of the last five or six years, I would say gold was a dollar hedge. Now it has become now more of a hedge against things going wrong," Nolte added.

Spot gold XAU= rose 0.9% to $2,867.60 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 rose 0.41% to $2,865.00 an ounce.