NEW YORK - US STOCKS dipped on Tuesday as sentiment wobbled amid doubts about the prospects of a global recovery from recession and ahead of a Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.52 points (0.32 per cent) to 9,757.92 in early trade.

The Nasdaq composite dropped 10.09 points (0.49 per cent) to 2,038.11 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 3.57 points (0.34 per cent) to 1,039.31.

Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com said the market was jittery after the British government said it would force state-rescued banks RBS and Lloyds Banking Group to sell assets in a massive shake-up of the banking sector and health care maker Johnson & Johnson said it was cutting seven to eight percent of its global workforce in a restructuring.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's full takeover offer for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway, a deal worth US$44 billion including 10 billion of the railway's debt announced before the market open, helped improve sentiment, he said.

Buffett called Berkshire's biggest acquisition 'an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.' 'Buffett's perspective has helped temper some of the negative thoughts this morning, but it has yet to turn the tide of sentiment altogether as Buffett himself couldn't put a finger on when the pickup in the US will be both robust and sustained,' O'Hare said.

The Fed is expected to hold its key rates at near-zero to help the economy recover from recession when it concludes a two-day meeting on Wednesday. -- AFP