Investing.com – Wall Street fell on Tuesday as weak numbers from China added to concerns about a global recession, while increased regulatory tensions caused tech stocks to tumble.
The Dow fell 75 points or 0.3% by 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT), while the S&P 500 slipped 17 points or 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite was down 74 points or 0.9%.
Data overnight showed that Chinese producer prices fell at their fastest rate in three years in August, while orders to machine tool makers in Japan posted their steepest decline since 2009, down 37% on the year.
Meanwhile Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were under pressure, on news that the tech companies face four separate antitrust investigations that will examine whether or not the bigger technology firms should be broken up. Facebook lost 1.1%, while Google dipped 0.4%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 0.3% ahead of an event where it is expected to unveil its latest iPhones and video streaming service. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) fell 1.6% and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) inched down 0.6% as details of Apple’s streaming service could hurt their own streaming apps.
AT&T (NYSE:T) rose 1.6%, while Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was up 1%, after reassuring on its trading outlook for the current quarter.
Carnival (NYSE:CCL) gained 1.5%.
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) inched up 0.4% while Altria (NYSE:MO) slipped 0.3% after Piper Jaffray lowered its rating on Altria to 'neutral' from 'overweight' due to concerns over the potential merger between the two.
Ford Motor (NYSE:F) tumbled 5.1% after ratings agency Moody's downgraded its bond rating to junk status on Monday.
In commodities, crude oil rose 0.4% to $58.09 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% to 98.352 and gold futures slipped 0.3% to $1,507.25 a troy ounce.