* S&P 500 lower in afternoon trading
* Weak China data weighs on markets
* Investors await ECB easing
(Updates with European shares' close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - World stock markets fell on
Tuesday after weak data from China reignited worries about a
global economic slowdown and oil prices pulled back from recent
strong gains.
China's February trade performance was worse than economists
expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years, days
after top leaders sought to reassure investors the outlook for
world's second-largest economy remains solid.
"The data this morning has dampened sentiment more so than
anything else at this point in terms of confirming some of the
concerns regarding growth in China," said Ryan Larson, head of
U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management in Chicago.
Weighing on oil, Kuwait saying it would agree to an output
freeze only if all major producers took part.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $39.77 a barrel, down
$1.07, or 2.6 percent, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
futures CLc1 were down $1.32, or 3.5 percent, at $36.58.
The declines come a day after Brent and U.S. oil settled at
their highest levels since December.
In the stock market, energy and materials shares led the way
lower. The S&P energy index .SPNY was down 3.2
percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 27.54
points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,046.41, the S&P 500 .SPX had
lost 11.4 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,990.36 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC had dropped 26.66 points, or 0.57 percent, to
4,681.60.
U.S. stocks had sold off sharply at the start of the year
amid worries about weakness in China and its impact on the
global economy, but major indexes retraced much of those losses
in recent weeks.
MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was
down 0.6 percent, while in Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst
300 index .FTEU3 ended down 0.9 percent.
The weak Chinese trade data stoked safe-haven demand for the
yen and the Swiss franc as investors shed holdings of stocks and
other risky investments on renewed concerns about a slowing
global economy.
The dollar was down 0.6 percent at 112.68 yen JPY= , while
the Swiss franc was up 0.2 percent against the greenback at
0.9928 franc CHF= .
U.S. Treasury yields fell in line with Japanese yields after
the weak Chinese data, which increased demand for safe-haven
U.S. government debt.
The benchmark 10-year note US10YT=RR was last up 26/32 in
price to yield 1.811 percent, down from 1.904 percent late on
Monday.
Investors are also awaiting Thursday's European Central Bank
announcement. The bank is expected to announce more monetary
stimulus measures to boost ultra-low inflation and sluggish
growth in the euro zone.
A small 10-basis point cut to push its deposit rate deeper
into negative territory is a foregone conclusion, while some
type of adjustment of the bank's 1.5 trillion euro asset
purchase program is also near certain.