Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com - U.S. stocks traded down as concerns over the global economy returned to center state and mixed data stateside was insufficient to convince traders to keep their money on the table.
At 15:48GMT or 11:48AM ET, the Dow 30 tumbled 100 points, or 0.57%, while the S&P 500 dropped 17 points, or 0.81%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite lost 38 points, or 0.78%.
European markets and U.S. futures started Tuesday in the red as International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde urged global policymakers to prepare contingency measures in case downside risks to the global economy materialize, dampening risk appetite.
Lagarde appeared to attempt to minimize the alarmist tendency at her lecture in Frankfurt, assuring listeners that the recovery continued and insisting that the world was not in crisis.
"The not-so-good news is that the recovery remains too slow, too fragile, and risks to its durability are increasing," she said.
The U.S. trade deficit did little to improve investor sentiment stateside as it widened to its highest level since last August. The read caused the likes of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) or Barclays (LON:BARC) to cut their forecasts for growth in the American economy during the first quarter by 30 basis points to 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
In positive economic news, service sector activity did serve to pare the losses on Wall Street as the ISM non-manufacturing PMI bounced back from near a two year low in March, coming in slightly above forecasts.
Ahead of the publication of the Fed meeting minutes on Wednesday and an appearance by the head of the U.S. central bank Janet Yellen on Thursday, Fed futures were pricing in zero possibility of a rate increase at the April meeting, with December now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs.
However, Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren warned on Monday that markets were mistaken in assuming a maximum of one rate hike or even none-at-all this year.
On Tuesday, Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans gave a similar view, repeating his call for two hikes in 2016 and stating that "financial market expectations are more pessimistic than (the Fed's)".
Meanwhile, oil seesawed throughout the session as investors placed bets on whether the April 17 meeting of major oil producers in Doha will lead to any concrete measures to solve the global supply glut.
Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude that are expected to reach new record highs. The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday's government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 3.3 million barrels in the week ended April.
Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.34% to $35.82 a barrel by 15:50GMT or 11:50AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.16% to $37.75.
In company news, Allergan Plc (NYSE:AGN) tumbled more than 15% as new U.S. inversion rules threatened to derail its merger with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). The Dow Jones component rose close to 2%.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) jumped more than 8% after confirming that no further adjustments to its financial statements would be needed and it would file its 2015 10-K no later than April 29.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ:MRVL) surged 12% after both its president and CEO stepped down.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) fell 4% after reporting mixed second quarter earnings.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) lost nearly 2% after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch downgraded the blue-chip tech firm to neutral from buy over growth worries during the next three years.
Dominion Resources (NYSE:D) fell more than 3% after announcing plans to issue 10.2 million common shares for $750 million.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
