New York  - Contradictory news about the US economy kept Wall Street uneasy as US stocks slipped.

The US Commerce Department pared back its estimate of economic contraction during the second quarter from an annualized 1 per cent to 0.7 per cent. It constitutes the smallest quarterly economic decline in a year and is widely considered to hint at a return to growth, perhaps as soon as the third quarter, which ended Wednesday on the last day of September.

A private barometer of business activity, issued Wednesday by the Institute for Supply Management, showed an unexpected downturn.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 29.92 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 9,712.28. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 3.53 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 1,057.08. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.62 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,122.42.

The US currency fell to 68.323 euro cents from 68.58 euro cents on Tuesday. The dollar dropped against the Japanese currency to 89.768 yen from 90.14 yen. (dpa)