NEW YORK, US (AFP) - Wall Street stocks closed mixed Tuesday amid worries about the prospects of a global recovery from recession and ahead of a Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.53 points (0.18 percent) to finish at 9,771.91.

The Nasdaq composite meanwhile rose 8.12 points (0.40 percent) to 2,057.32 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 2.53 points (0.24 percent) to 1,045.41.

The major indices spent most of the session in negative territory in volatile trade as investors worried about the strength of the budding US recovery underway from the worst recession in decades.

"The major stock averages crawled out of an early hole and closed mixed as gains in basic materials and industrial shares offset weakness in financials and semiconductors," said Scott Marcouiller of Wells Fargo Advisors.

"Investors appeared cautious as the Federal Reserve began its meeting on interest rates and the market awaited Friday's employment report."

The market was "continuing to contemplate the sustainability of an economic recovery without global stimulus efforts," Charles Schwab & Co. analysts said.

A huge takeover bid by billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway company was not enough to spark a strong rally, analysts said.

Buffett said the acquisition of 77.4 percent shares in BNSF it does not already own would be Berkshire's biggest acquisition and represents "an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."

Shares in the railway group, valued at US$44 billion including US$10 billion in debt, shot up 27.51 percent to US$97.00. Berkshire Hathaway climbed 1.85 percent to US$3,325.35.

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 Wednesday.

The Labor Department reports Friday on nonfarm payrolls in October. Most analysts see the unemployment rate rising to 9.9 percent from 9.8 percent in September, the highest level in 26 years.

Official data showed factor orders slightly better than expected in September, in further sign of improvement in the manufacturing sector which is leading the US recovery.

Pharmaceutical and consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson fell 0.94 percent to US$58.93 after saying it would slash more than 7,000 jobs worldwide in a restructuring.

Dow component Intel tumbled 2.58 percent to US$18.50. A Morgan Stanley downgrade of the world's leading computer chip weighed on the sector.

Stocks linked to commodities prices benefited from their sharp rise. The price of gold hit an all-time high of more than US$1,088 an ounce in New York.

Aluminum giant Alcoa rose 1.44 percent to US$12.66 and miner Barrick Gold vaulted 7.29 percent to US$39.17.

Media group Viacom rose 1.34 percent to US$30.17.

The owner of Paramount film studio and the MTV television network reported a better-than-expected 15.5 percent rise in third quarter profit from a year ago.

Tool maker Black & Decker powered 30.97 percent higher to US$62.00 after announcing it would buy rival Stanley Works in a stock swap valued at US$4.5 billion. Stanley soared 10.06 percent to US$49.69.

Bonds weakened. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.473 percent from 3.422 percent Monday and that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.337 percent from 4.268 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite