Overnight Markets: Healthcare stocks weigh on Wall Street

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 slip on Thursday, weighed down by declines in shares of healthcare and energy companies amid concerns about inaction on key legislative priorities in Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points, or 0.07%, to close at 20,935, the S&P 500 lost four points, or 0.16%, to 2,381 and the Nasdaq Composite added one point, or 0.01%, to 5,901.

The S&P 500 healthcare index fell 0.9% after proposals in President Donald Trump's budget signalled higher regulatory costs for the healthcare sector and a cut in federal funding for medical research.

Financials outperformed in a rebound after the sector was the worst performer on Wednesday and as the benchmark US Treasury note yield rose, while utilities weakened.

Biogen (BIIB.O) weighed down the S&P 500, falling 4.7% after two brokerages downgraded the stock.

Technology stocks did better, led by Oracle (ORCL.N), which surged 6.2%, after it posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

GoPro, which makes wearable cameras, surged 15.8% after it announced a cost-cutting plan and said it's sticking by its forecast for 2017 profit.

Tesla Motors climbed 2.5% as it announced plans to raise $1 billion in new offerings of stock and bonds to strengthen the company's balance sheet.

Williams-Sonoma climbed 2.4% as it boosted its quarterly dividend by five percent after fourth-quarter earnings rose 2.5% to $144.6 million.

Tyson Foods (TSN.N) slipped 1.7% on news that a form of bird flu that is highly lethal for poultry had infected a second farm that supplies Tyson.

Trovagene plunged 25.7% after the San Diego developer of diagnostic technology posted disappointing financial results.

In Asia, equities traded mixed on Friday in morning session following a flat to lower close on Wall Street, in a light regional data day.

Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.35%. Australia's ASX 200 added 0.39%, buoyed by its gold sub-index, which was up 1.61%. In South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.27%. China's Shanghai composite was almost flat in early trade and the Shenzhen composite gained 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.35%.