U.S. equities dropped at midday, but were off their lows after President Donald Trump paused tariffs on Mexico when that country's president agreed to use troops to block drug trafficking across the U.S. southern border.

Stocks had slumped after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and a 10% levy on China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were all in the red.

Constellation Brands (STZ) shares slid, but were also off their lows on the new Trump announcement. They had sunk because of the potential impact on the firm's key Mexican beer brand imports, Modelo and Corona.

Concerns about retaliatory tariffs sent shares of Jack Daniel's whiskey maker Brown-Forman (BF.A) tumbling.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) declined when data from several European countries showed falling demand for the electric vehicle (EV) maker's cars. 

IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the provider of veterinary healthcare products and services beat profit and sales estimates on growing demand for its animal testing offerings and higher prices.

Shares of Tyson Foods (TSN) gained when the biggest U.S. poultry producer posted better-than-expected results on strong sales of chicken.

Shares of Newmont (NEM) and rival gold miners rose after the price of the precious metal hit an all-time high as investors saw it as a haven from the tariff impacts. 

Oil futures were up. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed. The U.S. dollar gained on the euro, but lost ground to the pound and yen. Trading in most major cryptocurrencies was mixed.