Europe woes, US earnings season hit global stocks

US stocks fell on Tuesday, led by losses in technology after brokerage downgrades of Intel and other major companies as worries increased about third-quarter US earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 110.12 points, or 0.81 percent, to 13,473.53 at the close. The S&P 500 lost 14.40 points, or 0.99 percent, to 1,441.48. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 47.33 points, or 1.52 percent, to close at 3,065.02.

European shares fell in thin trade as gloomy economic data and corporate reports set the backdrop for a tough start to the third-quarter reporting season in the United States.

The broader FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.5 percent to 1,095.95 points in a broad-based selloff as the International Monetary Fund cut its expectations for global growth and investors fretted the US earnings season may dent expectations the world's largest economy is recovering.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average fell the most in eight sessions today on concern that companies will slash profit forecasts further following a World Bank warning that the slowdown in key trading partner China may be more protracted than thought. The Nikkei dropped 1.1 percent, its biggest fall in eight sessions.