U.S. stocks decline amid mixed data

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session Tuesday, as investors digested a batch of mixed economic reports.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 77.79 points, or 0.44 percent, to 17,659.21. The S&P 500 lost 15.22 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,050.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 33.05 points, or 0.68 percent, to 4,858.74. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that the goods and services deficit was 47.1 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 1.2 billion dollars from the revised January reading.

The U.S. non-manufacturing index registered 54.5 percent in March, 1.1 percentage points higher than the February reading of 53.4 percent and beating market consensus of 54.0, the Institute Supply Management (ISM) reported Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the number of job openings was little changed at 5.4 million on the last business day of February, according to the Labor Department Tuesday.

Overseas, in a speech at a German university on Tuesday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde called on the world's economies to boost growth, warning that risks to global growth are rising.

European equities traded sharply lower Tuesday amid Lagarde's remarks, with the German benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange tumbling more than 2 percent.

On Monday, U.S. stocks ticked down as falling oil prices and negative economic reports weighed on Wall Street. Enditem