World stocks fall over worries of global economic decline

Stocks in the United States fell sharply Tuesday, following a broad sell-off in Europe and Asia that was fueled by concerns over the pace of growth in the global economy.

Stocks in Shanghai set off the decline after the Conference Board, a private research group, said it had recalculated its leading economic index for China to show a 0.3 percent gain in April, down from the 1.7 percent gain it reported two weeks ago.

Trade in European markets followed and turned lower, and then the contagion of declines spread to the United States, where the Dow dipped below the 10,000 level soon after the opening bell.

In afternoon trading, the Euro Stoxx 50 index of euro-zone blue chips fell 2.9 percent, while the FTSE 100 index in London fell 2.2 percent.

In afternoon trading in the United States, the Dow was down 220.75 points, or 2.18 percent, at 9,917.77. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 27.26 points, or 2.54 percent, at 1,047.31, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 68.54 points, or 3.09 percent, to 2,152.11.