US stocks have fallen as trade concerns lingered and declines in Facebook and Nike shares weighed on Wall Street's major indexes, though data showing US manufacturing activity accelerated in August kept losses in check.
Facebook shares fell 2.6 per cent on Tuesday after brokerage MoffettNathanson downgraded the social media company, warning of revenue growth deceleration.
Shares of other technology companies, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Twitter also slid, while the S&P 500 technology index dropped 0.3 per cent.
Nike shares fell 3.2 per cent as the company faced a backlash after it chose Colin Kaepernick, the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against racism, to participate in a new ad campaign.
Concerns about trade, including talks between the US and Canada to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, also took a toll, investors said.
"The trade war concerns continue to linger," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "The fact that we weren't able to come to an agreement with Canada has people concerned."
Talks between the US and Canada are scheduled to resume on Wednesday after the two parties ended their talks on Friday without a deal.
Amazon bucked the negative sentiment. It briefly touched $US1 trillion in market capitalisation, joining Apple in achieving that milestone, after its shares rose as much as 1.9 per cent to hit a record $US2,050.50. Amazon ended the session up 1.3 per cent to $US2,039.51.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday fell 12.34 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 25,952.48, the S&P 500 lost 4.8 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,896.72 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.29 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 8,091.25.
Earlier, the indexes pared losses after data from the Institute for Supply Management showed US manufacturing activity accelerated to a more than 14-year high in August, boosted by a surge in new orders.
Consultations on a US proposal for new tariffs on Chinese goods are set to end on Thursday, after which US President Donald Trump can follow through on plans to impose levies on another $US200 billion of Chinese imports, though it is unclear how quickly that will happen.
Verizon Communications shares slipped 2.2 per cent after Barclays downgraded the wireless carrier's stock.
Shares of Western Digital fell 4.7 per cent and Seagate Technology shares dropped 7.7 per cent after Evercore ISI downgraded shares of the hard-disk drive makers.
Shares of JD.com Inc slid 6.0 per cent after the Chinese retailer's chief executive officer was arrested in the US on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct and later released.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.90-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.42-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 53 new 52-week highs and eight new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 153 new highs and 50 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 6.56 billion shares, compared with the 6.11 billion average over the last 20 trading days.
