Overnight Markets: Wall Street rally falters on poor jobs data

US stocks slip on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected decrease in private payrolls undermining confidence in the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average inched up two points, or 0.02%, to 10,947, well off its session high at 10,974. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index eased three points, or 0.26%, to 1,158. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 24 points, or 1.01%, to 2,375.

Investors wavered after the payroll company ADP Employer Services reported that private employers shed 39,000 jobs last month, the first downturn in several months. The Labour Department’s report on the job markets on Friday is likely to show that the private sector added 75,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.7%.

Tech shares were hit after Morgan Stanley downgraded semiconductor companies Xilinx Inc and Altera Corp to "underweight," citing concerns about a slowdown in Asian markets. Xilinx plunged 3.1% and Altera fell 2.8%.

In other corporate news, GE shares were up 39 cents to $16.90 after the industrial conglomerate said it had agreed to buy Dresser for $3 billion. Motorola declined 0.9% to $8.56 after the communications equipment maker said it may spin off its mobile phone business early next year. M&T Bank fell 5% after Allied Irish said it will start selling its 22.4% stake in the lender.

In current trading, Asian stocks were trading mixed on Thursday as higher oil and metal prices boosted commodity companies, while chipmakers slipped after Samsung Electronics Co reported profit that missed estimates.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3% to 130 as of 9:39 a.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.2% to 9,675.02, as the yen's rise to a fresh 15-year high undermined sentiment. The broader Topix rose 0.3% to 847.39. Korea’s KOSPI index was trading 0.3% lower at 1,898.

In corporate news, BHP Billiton Ltd rose 1% in Sydney and Mitsubishi Corp gained 0.8% in Tokyo. Samsung dropped 2% in Seoul, with James Hardie Industries SE declining 1.7% in Sydney.