Wall St gives up initial gains as weak private job data weighs

US stocks turned negative on Wednesday, after opening slightly higher, as disappointing data, including weaker-than-expected private jobs numbers, fueled concerns about the economy's potential to rebound from a first-quarter slump.

Stock markets globally have also been under pressure as the worldwide sell-off in government bonds deepened, spreading unease across all assets.

ADP payroll data showed U.S. private employers added 169,000 jobs last month, the fewest since January 2014 and far below economists' expectations, posing a downside risk for the more comprehensive nonfarm payrolls report.

"This is certainly going to change expectations for Friday's numbers," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.

"Some people think that the Fed will now delay raising rates."

Adding to the weak jobs data, applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week as interest rates jumped, while nonfarm productivity fell in the first quarter as harsh winter weather weighed on output.

At 10:04 a.m. EDT (1404 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 68.5 points, or 0.38 percent, at 17,859.7, the S&P 500 was down 6.02 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,083.44 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 18.09 points, or 0.37 percent, at 4,921.24.

Nine of the 10 S&P sectors were lower, with only the energy index gaining 0.6 percent as oil prices hit fresh 2015 highs.

Tech stocks, led by Apple and Microsoft, were the biggest drag on the three major indices.

The weak data and bond markets also overshadowed strong results from corporates and a mini revival in dealmaking.

MoneyGram soared 23.08 percent to $9.60 after Bloomberg reported that Western Union was considering buying its smaller rival. Western Union rose as much as 9 percent to a record high of $22.84.

Herbalife jumped 16.14 percent to $46.59 after the weight-loss and nutritional products maker raised its full-year profit forecast.

Synageva BioPharma soared 111.94 percent to $203.06 after Alexion offered to buy the company at a 135.7 percent premium to Tuesday's close. Alexion was down nearly 10.5 percent at $150.82.

Wendy's rose 6.3 percent to $11.08 and EA gained 5.5 percent to $62.43 after the two companies reported better-than-expected results.

MetLife, Tesla and TripAdvisor are scheduled to report results after the bell.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,797 to 991, for a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,334 issues fell and 1,028 advanced for a 1.30-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 3 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 14 new highs and 33 new lows.