* ADP misses forecast, ISM non-manufacturing on tap
* Applied Materials to buy Varian
* ConAgra raises Ralcorp bid
* Indexes: Dow off 0.3 pct, S&P off 0.3 pct, Nasdaq flat
* For up-to-the-minute market news see STXNEWS/US (Updates to open)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday as investors weighed a fresh round of proposed acquisitions against a weaker-than-expected employment report.
U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in April, short of economists' expectations of 198,000, a report by the payrolls processor showed. For details, see [ID:nN04183024]
"It wasn't a huge miss and ADP isn't necessarily always accurate in predicting the U.S. government employment numbers. But it's a miss nonetheless and shows the economy continue to improve but at a very slow, modest rate," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 35.19 points, or 0.27 percent, to 12,772.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> lost 3.90 points, or 0.29 percent, to 1,352.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 0.58 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,842.20.
Chip equipment maker Applied Materials Inc
Varian shares surged 51.2 percent to $61.30 and Applied Materials advanced 1 percent to $15.38.
"We still have some earnings going on and we are getting more and more M&A deals and that is certainly a positive for the market on multiple fronts," said Ghriskey.
The ISM non-manufacturing index for April is due at 10 a.m. EST [1400 GMT], with economists forecasting a tick up to 57.4 from 57.3 in the previous month on growth in its business activity index.
ConAgra Foods Inc
Ralcorp jumped nearly 8 percent to $89.80, and ConAgra added 3.5 percent to $25.64. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)