U.S. stocks slid on Wall Street Tuesday as a key manufacturing index showed factory activity hitting the lowest level since December 2010.
Stock indexes were mixed in Asia and Europe, as investor concern over sovereign debt issues in Europe weighed on sentiment.
The focus switched back to the sluggish recovery Tuesday with a Markit report that said a flash estimate of July's Purchasing Managers Index for the United States fell to 51.8, down from 52.5 in June. The survey showed factory employment increased in the month, but the production and new orders indexes both dropping to their slowest levels in 12 months.
In early-afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 162 points or 1.27 percent to 12,559.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 17.04 points or 1.26 percent to 1,333.48. Tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gave up 28.80 points or 1 percent to 2,861.35.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note gained 9/32 to yield 1.404 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2057 from Monday's $1.2117. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 78.16 yen from 78.39 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.24 percent, 20.23, to 8,488.09.
In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 0.63 percent, 34.64, to 5,499.23.
