Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell broadly on Tuesday erasing gains from one session earlier, amid continuing fears of the spillover effects from a potential recession in China, the world's second's largest economy.
The widespread Chinese concerns festered, as China president Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle to meet with Bill Gates and take part in a U.S.-China technology summit over the next two days. Xi will then head to Washington for his first state visit at the White House, where he is expected to discuss a wide array of topics with U.S. president Barack Obama, including the state of the global economy. On Tuesday, the Asian Development Bank lowered its 2015 economic growth projections for China from 7.2% and 6.8%. It came ahead of the release of key Chinese manufacturing data on Wednesday, after the Caixin Manufacturing PMI index slumped to six-and-a-half year lows last month.
Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average pared some losses late in the session, it still closed down by 179.72 or 1.09% at 16,330.47, posting its third losing session in the last four trading days. The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index also fell considerably on a bearish day for the major indices. During Tuesday's session, the NASDAQ lost 72.24 or 1.50% to 4,756.72, remaining far below the symbolic 5,000 level.
The S&P 500, meanwhile, dipped 24.23 or 1.23% to 1,942.74, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Technology industries lagged, each falling by more than 1.4% on the day.
The top performer on the Dow was EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which gained 0.33 or 0.68% to 48.57. Dupont ended Tuesday as one of only three Dow components to close in the green. The worst performer was United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which fell 3.35 or 3.66% to 88.20, after Moody's downgraded its senior unsecured rating of the company to 'A3.' United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) is in the midst of a significant corporate restructuring effort after the divestiture of its Sikorsky helicopter division earlier this year.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), which rose 1.33 or 1.96% to 69.18. Shares in Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) are now up by more than 18% over the last year. The worst performer was VimpelCom (NASDAQ:VIP), which fell 0.30 or 6.04% to 4.67. Vimpelcom finished just below Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC), which dropped 4.21 or 5.52% to 72.05, after reports surfaced that company vice president Michael Charles Ray sold more than 1,800 shares of company stock late last week. Shares in the data storage provider fell to a fresh 12-month low on Tuesday.
Dollar Tree was also the top performer on the S&P 500, just ahead of Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE), which gained 1.34 or 1.61% to 84.66. The worst performer was BorgWarner Inc (NYSE:BWA), which plunged 3.24 or 7.60% to 39.37, following admissions from Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) that approximately 11 million of its vehicles are affected in a major diesel deception scandal. Borg Warner is one of Volkswagen's top suppliers for its advanced turbocharged technology on its four-cylinder gasoline engines. Last Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued charges against the automaker for allegedly violating Federal and state laws by installing sophisticated software that would implement emissions controls only when its vehicles were being tested.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,484 to 640 margin.