US stocks wobbled lower as Wall Street questioned whether the US job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way.

After rising to an early gain, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3 per cent below the all-time high it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5 per cent, after swinging between an early gain of nearly 150 points and a loss of 400. The Nasdaq composite edged down by less than 0.1 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket is set to slip, with futures on Saturday pointing to a loss of 15 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was fetching US65.46¢ at 5.24am AEST.

The action was more decisive in the bond market, where Tr

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