NEW YORK, June 29 (UPI) -- U.S. markets plunged early Tuesday, following sharp drops in Asia and Europe triggered by fears of slowing growth in China.
Bill Adams, the Conference Board's resident economist in Beijing, said Monday leading economic indicators in China "have been moderating since the middle of last year, suggesting there is no strong basis for assuming accelerating growth."
The Conference Board's report helped spark a sell off in China with the Shanghai composite index down 4.27 percent.
Markets fell more than 1 percent in most of Asia and were off more than 2 percent in most of Europe in midday trading.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 239.95 points or 2.37 percent to 9,898.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 27.62 or 2.57 percent to 1,046.95. The Nasdaq composite index lost 67.26 or 3.03 percent to 2,153.39.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 17/32 to yield 2.97 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2171 from Monday's $1.2274. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 88.436 yen from Monday's 89.4 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.27 percent, 123.27, to 9,570.67.
