According to the reports, U. S. markets plunged Tuesday, following sharp drops in Asia and Europe triggered by fears of slowing growth in China.

Leading economic indicators in China "have been moderating since the middle of last year, suggesting there is no strong basis for assuming accelerating growth," said Bill Adams, the Conference Board's resident economist in Beijing, on Monday.

The Conference Board's report helped spark a sell-off in China with the Shanghai composite index down 4.27 percent.

It has also been reported that markets fell more than 1 percent in most of Asia and were off more than 2 percent in most of Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 268.22 points or 2.65 percent to 9,870.30, by close of trading on Wall Street. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 33.33 or 3.1 percent to 1,041.24.

The Nasdaq composite index lost 85.47 or 3.85 percent to 2,135.18.

259 stocks advanced and 2,831 declined on a volume of 6.2 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 20/32 to yield 2.951 percent.

From Monday's $1.2274, the euro fell to $1.2187. The dollar, against the yen, fell to 88.58 yen from Monday's 89.4 yen. (With Inputs from Agencies)