Wall Street was lower on Tuesday as oil prices tumbled and weak Chinese data rekindled fears of a global economic slowdown led by the world's second-biggest economy. China's February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years. The report weighed on markets worldwide.
Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent in volatile trading. "The data this morning has dampened sentiment more so than anything else at this point in terms of confirming some of the concerns regarding growth in China," said Ryan Larson, head of US equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management in Chicago.
"Equities, at least in the United States, are somewhat taking their cues from oil pulling back slightly," Larson said. The S&P energy sector led nine of the 10 major S&P sectors lower, with a more than 3 percent decline. Exxon and Chevron were off 1.5 percent each. At 10:51 am ET (1551 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was down 130.29 points, or 0.76 percent, at 16,943.66, the S&P 500 was down 20.69 points, or 1.03 percent, at 1,981.07 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 48.47 points, or 1.03 percent, at 4,659.79.
Apple was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while Caterpillar weighed on the Dow. Shares of Urban Outfitters were up 13.8 percent at $32.05, after the company reported better-than-expected sales for its bohemian-inspired Free People brand.
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