1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks keep falling amid global rout

U.S. stocks ended mildly lower after choppy trading Tuesday, as a broad-based sell-off in global stock markets weighed on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to 16,014.38. The S&P 500 edged down 1.23 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,852.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 14.99 points, or 0.35 percent, to 4,268.76.

Japanese equity market plummeted more than 5 percent Tuesday on the yen's rapid appreciation to an about 15-month high. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average plunged 5.40 percent to end at 16,085.44 points.

Chinese stock markets remain closed for the country's one-week long Lunar New Year holiday.

European stocks also suffered broad losses Tuesday on mounting concerns over the prospect of global economy, with German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange going down 1.11 percent.

Oil prices continued to plunge Tuesday, with the Brent crude diving over 6 percent, as production cut from producers seems unlikely.

Oil prices have dived over 20 percent since the start of 2016 as persistent worries about a global supply glut continued to weigh on the market.

On the U.S. economic front, the number of job openings increased to 5.6 million on the last business day of December, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Endite