Shares of Dow Jones & Co.(NYSE: DJ), which publishes The Wall Street Journal, were slightly down on Wednesday, a day after talk of a $5 billion bid for the firm by News Corp. sent shares soaring more than 50 percent.

Amid speculation that other companies may make bids for the firm, shares of Dow Jones closed down 20 cents, or 0.36 percent to $56.00 on the New York Stock Exchange.

News Corp's $60 per share offer to buy Dow Jones was rebuffed on Tuesday by the family which has controlling interest in the firm, with the company's board yet to make a formal decision on the matter.

On Tuesday, a representative of the Bancroft family informed the Dow Jones Board of Directors that it would vote against the News Corp. bid, which represents a 65 percent premium over the company's Monday closing share price.

The board said in a statement it would take into consideration the family's intention to vote against the offer with shares "constituting slightly more than 50%' of the voting power of the company.

The family controls 64.2 percent of Dow Jones primarily through its super-voting Class B shares, which have 10 times the voting power of Class A shares.

News Corp., which is run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and is said to be worth over $70 billion, confirmed a Tuesday morning report from CNBC that it had made an offer to acquire all of Dow Jones' outstanding shares in cash or a cash and stock deal.

Murdoch said in an interview with Fox news on Tuesday that News Corp. would prove to be "great guardians' for the paper.

The union which represents employees at Dow Jones said in a statement Tuesday that the staff "from top to bottom' opposes the offer. The union says the newspaper's independence would be at risk under Murdoch's ownership.

Shares of the firm, which closed at $36.34 on Monday, shot up more than $20 or 50 percent to $56.90 by the end of the trading day on Tuesday.

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