Sawt Falasteen - Wall Street's Nasdaq heads towards record highs on Nvidia

Meanwhile, European equities ended mixed after earlier being boosted by an encouraging report on business activity.

Nvidia reported after-hours Wednesday that quarterly profit rose seven-fold on demand for its chips to power artificial intelligence in data centres.

"Wall Street is a one-company town this morning, drawing fresh strength from mega-cap Nvidia's powerful earnings released late Wednesday,' said Joe Mazzola, an analyst at Charles Schwab.

"Nvidia stuck to precedent by outpacing analysts' expectations for earnings per share, revenue, and guidance in its fiscal first-quarter release."

The chip-maker -- now the third largest company by market capitalisation -- also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and a 150 percent increase in its dividend.

Its shares were up 9.4 percent shortly after the opening in New York, pulling other chipmakers such as ASML and AMD with it.

As a result, the Nasdaq and the wider S&P were headed towards closing at record levels, while the Dow -- which doesn't include Nvidia -- was being pulled lower by financial stocks.

In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris stocks initially rose after a key survey showed that eurozone business activity accelerated in May, but gave up most of those gains late in the session.

The HCOB Flash Eurozone purchasing managers' index (PMI), published by S&P Global, rose to 52.3 from 51.7 in April, its highest in 12 months. Any reading above 50 indicates growth, while a figure below 50 shows contraction.

The PMI's rise was driven by the services sector, where activity rose a fourth consecutive month, helped by new businesses. The manufacturing sector remained below 50, although its decline slowed.

"The PMI data has further alleviated growth concerns over Europe, providing mild support to European shares and the single currency," said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at City Index.

London stocks fell again, a day after hotter-than-expected annual UK inflation data dampened hopes of a Bank of England interest rate cut any time soon.

Traders largely shrugged off Wednesday's news that Conservative British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a general election for July 4.

The right-wing Tories, in power since 2010 but battered by disappointment over Brexit, cost-of-living discontent and a slew of scandals, have consistently trailed the main opposition Labour party in opinion polls for two years.

"It's sooner than expected but until we get full election manifestos from the Conservatives and Labour, markets have stayed calm," noted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Elsewhere, oil fell for the fourth day in a row while gold also fell.

- Key figures around 1530 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.7 percent at 39,381.05

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,316.65

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 16,926.90

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,339.23 points (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 8,102.33 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 18,691.32 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 5,037.60 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 39,103.22 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7 percent at 18,868.71 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.3 percent at 3,116.39 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.10 yen from 156.75 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0828 from $1.0826

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2713 from $1.2717

Euro/pound: UP at 85.17 from 85.10 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $77.17 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $81.62 per barrel

H.Nasr--SF-PST