Investing.com – U.S. stocks took a leg down in a light calendar day on Tuesday as worrisome Chinese trade data broke a 5-day bullish streak and concerns over global growth took center stage, even as oil pulled back from 3-month highs.
At 16:15GMT or 11:15AM ET, the Dow 30 fell 111 points or 0.65%, while the S&P 500 slipped 17 points or 0.86% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite lost 40 points or 0.82%.
Chinese exports plunged 25.4% from a year earlier in February, far worse than forecasts for a decline of 12.5% and the worst monthly performance since May 2009, while imports dropped 13.8%, compared to expectations for a fall of 10.0%.
Amidst similar global growth worries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday that its January monthly composite leading indicators, which are supposed to capture economic turning points, flagged "signs of easing growth" in the 34 advanced economies belonging to the group.
Additionally, International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy chief David Lipton warned on Tuesday that the global economic recovery was at risk of becoming derailed and urged global leaders to take coordinated action.
In other discouraging news on a light calendar day stateside, small business optimism unexpectedly declined in February, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) survey.
With the pending monetary policy meeting from the Federal Reserve (Fed) scheduled for March 15 and 16, no officials were scheduled to speak on Tuesday as the 7-day blackout period for communications began.
Previously, Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard did show concern on Monday that inflation expectations may have actually slipped downwards and that she would be wary of approving further rate hikes until there were signs of firming in domestic prices.
However, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer offered an opposing view as he insisted that “we may well at present be seeing the first stirring of an increase in the inflation rate.”
Oil prices showed massive volatility throughout Tuesday’s session but finally took a leg down as it pulled back from 3-month highs as investors weighed the worrying data from China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, along with comments from Kuwait’s oil minister that freezing production would only be considered if all the major producers agreed and a report from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) that insisted that the recent rally was overdone and unsustainable.
This bearish news flow appeared to outweigh the message from Latin American ministers that planned to hold discussions about supporting market prices on Friday.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consuming country.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 3.6 million barrels in the week ended March 4.
In the meantime, U.S. crude futures fell 2.74% to $36.86 by 16:20GMT or 11:20AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 2.35% to $39.88.
Lastly, and in big moves on company earnings, shares in Navistar International Corporation (NYSE:NAV)plunged 9% as the truckmaker reported revenues well below the consensus forecast, while Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) surged close to 16% after beating the street by 5 cents on earnings-per-share.