U.S. stocks pull back amid mixed data

U.S. stocks tumbled in the morning session on Tuesday as economic data came out mixed.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 70.73 points, or 0.39 percent, to 17,999.67. The S&P 500 dropped 13.76 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,100.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 55.23 points, or 1.10 percent, to 4,961.70.

U.S. trade deficit data came in more than expected. The country 's international trade deficit in goods and services increased to 51.4 billion U.S. dollars in March from a revised level of 35.9 billion dollars in February, as imports increased more than exports, said the Department of Commerce.

"The March trade deficit was the widest of the expansion to date, but it will be smaller in April. The average deficit in Q1 wasn't much worse than in Q4. This reflected the strength of the dollar, which has increased Americans' appetite for imports while diminishing the foreign appetite for U.S. made goods," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, the Non-Manufacturing Index registered 57.8 percent in April, 1.3 percentage points higher than the March reading of 56.5 percent, representing continued growth in the non- manufacturing sector, said the Institute for Supply Management in its monthly survey.

Overseas, Chinese Shanghai Composite Index plunged more than 4 percent Tuesday, as acceleration of IPOs and news saying a few domestic stockbrokerage companies had upswung their margin guarantee ratios for margin trade triggered market concerns over liquidity tension.

In corporate news, the Walt Disney Company reported earnings of 2.1 billion dollars for its second fiscal quarter ended March 28, 2015, beating market consensus. Diluted earnings per share for the second quarter increased 14 percent to 1.23 dollars from 1.08 dollars in the prior-year quarter. Its shares increased 0.91 percent around midday Tuesday. Endite