Investing.com – Wall Street dipped on Tuesday, as renewed concerns about the global economy surfaced after China targeted a lower growth rate for this year.
China said it is targeting its gross domestic product growth of 6% to 6.5% in 2019, down from the 6.6% reported last year. The government has also cut taxes to stimulate growth among manufacturers and increase infrastructure investment.
The news came after stocks had run out of steam Monday despite reports suggesting a trade deal between the U.S. and China is in sight. The lack of detail so far available has triggered concerns that it may not comprehensively end the tension between the world's two largest economies.
"A trade agreement seems to be priced in to a large extent, but it's the details of the agreement that will either provide an extension to the bull market or put an end to it," Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM in Dubai, wrote in a note.
The S&P 500 fell 1 point or 0.04% as of 9:33 AM ET (14:33 GMT), while the Dow lost 16 points, or 0.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite decreased 5 points, or 0.07%.
Target (NYSE:TGT) was among the top gainers after the morning bell, rising 4% after its comparable sales rose more strongly than expected. Ctrip.Com (NASDAQ:CTRP) jumped 13% after the Chinese travel site’s quarterly revenue was better than expected, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was up 0.7%. Brazilian mining company Vale (NYSE:VALE) also gained 1%, despite fresh reports suggesting it had neglected safety concerns before a fatal dam breach last month.
Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 3% after news that China had suspended customs clearance for imports of its Model 3, while Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) slipped 0.58% and semiconductor company Micron (NASDAQ:MU) was down 2.3%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.07% to $1,286.55 a troy ounce while crude oil rose 0.8% to $57.06 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, gained 0.05% to 96.662.
-Reuters contributed to this report.