U.S. Markets
Stocks suffered their biggest declines this year, losing ground for the fifth straight session, as worries over rising borrowing costs for European countries weighed on investor sentiment ahead of the start of earnings season. On Tuesday, stocks opened flat then drifted lower throughout the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 213.66 points, or 1.7%, to 12715.93, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined 23.61 points, or 1.7%, to 1358.59. The Nasdaq Composite fell 55.86 points, or 1.8%, to 2991.22, its eighth decline in 10 trading days. Stocks have slumped over the last week after concluding their best first-quarter in more than a decade. Both the DJIA and the S&P 500 have fallen more than 4% during their five-session slides. Consumer-discretionary stocks led all 10 S&P 500 sectors lower, led by Best Buy. Shares of the consumer electronics retailer fell 5.9% after CEO Brian Dunn resigned abruptly Tuesday, just weeks after announcing a turnaround strategy. Homebuilders Lennar, down 7.3%, and PulteGroup, down 6.6%, also weighed. Financials weren't far behind, as Bank of America spearheaded the Dow's declines, losing 4.4%. Industrials, materials, and energy stocks each fell more than 1.9%. Caterpillar fell 3% after sales of construction excavators in China plunged nearly 50% in March. Alcoa fell 2.9% ahead of the release of its first quarter earnings after the market closed. Its shares rose 4.6% in after-hours trading as it reported a surprise first-quarter profit on gains in its midstream and downstream businesses, though its earnings fell 69% from a year earlier as aluminum prices continued to fall. In aggregate, first-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 companies are expected to show the slowest year-over-year growth since the financial crisis. Quarterly reports due later this week include Google, on Thursday, and J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, on Friday.

European Markets
European stocks slumped and Italian and Spanish bond yields soared as worries about the finances of some euro-zone nations added to the weight of downbeat data from the rest of the world. Tuesday was investors' first chance to react to a disappointing U.S. jobs report Friday. Another worry was China, which Tuesday reported weaker than expected imports in March, a sign that domestic demand is still slowing. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index slumped 2.5% to close at 252.57. Italian stocks plunged; the benchmark FTSE MIB index slid 5% to 14458.88, its biggest one-day drop since the beginning of November. Madrid's IBEX 35 fell 3% to 7433.60, its lowest close since March 13, 2009, as growing fears about the country's budget deficit damped investor sentiment. Among other national indexes, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 2.2% to 5595.55, while Germany's DAX index dropped 2.5% to 6606.43 and France's CAC-40 index slid 3.1% to 3217.60. Banks tumbled across the continent. In Italy, UniCredit plummeted 8.1%, Intesa Sanpaolo skidded 7.9% and Banco Popolare dropped 7.3%. Societe Generale shed 6.2% and BNP Paribas gave up 5.7%, both in Paris. Banco Santander declined 3.9% in Madrid, and Commerzbank slumped 5.4% in Frankfurt. In the U.K., Barclays fell 5.9%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group shed 4.3%, and Lloyds Banking Group declined 4.5% Spain Monday announced more budget cuts as the government struggles to slash its budget deficit to 5.3% of gross domestic product this year from 8.5% of GDP last year. The 2012 budget presented late last month called for another EUR27 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. But the government has faced growing opposition to deep austerity cuts at home, while economists and market observers have expressed doubts that the cuts will be enough to reach tough budget deficit-reduction targets. A poorly received Spanish debt auction last week re-ignited concerns about the country's ability to fund via the market. Yields on Spain's 10-year government bonds leapt to just below 6%, jumping 0.278 percentage point to 5.935%. The 10-year yield in Italy, another country with stretched finances, also soared, reaching 5.67%. The broader European stock market was in negative territory from the open in the wake of Friday's U.S. jobs report. Meanwhile, manufacturing production in France showed an unexpected 1.2% decline in February, while industrial production climbed 0.3% in the same month. A report also showed that the country's economy didn't grow or shrink in the first quarter based on confidence indicators for industry and services.

Asian Markets
Most Asian markets fell Tuesday, with early gains for Japanese stocks slipping away after the Bank of Japan decided against further policy loosening, while Hong Kong shares dropped in their first response to weak global economic data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.2% as traders returning after a four-day weekend responded to a disappointing U.S. jobs report and to Chinese trade and inflation data. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.1% and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5%, while China's Shanghai Composite erased early losses to end 0.9% higher. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average, up 1.1% at one point, reversed course to finish the day down 0.1%, as the yen appreciated after the Bank of Japan left its policy interest rate and the size of its asset purchases unchanged. The drop marked a sixth straight day of decline for Japanese shares. The stronger yen pressured several exporters, with Sony down 3.5%, Sharp off 4.3% and Panasonic 4.0% lower. Mainland Chinese stocks rebounded amid expectations for monetary easing by Beijing. Data released Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs showed the country unexpectedly swung to a trade surplus of $5.35 billion in March, from a deficit a month earlier. Exports growth beat economists' estimates, while imports increased at a slower pace. Property developers were among the big gainers on mainland bourses, with Gemdale Corp. rising 4.4% and Poly Real Estate Group climbing 3.3% in Shanghai, while China Vanke climbed 2.4% in Shenzhen. But in Hong Kong, property and financial stocks were among the worst performers as trading resumed after the long weekend. China Resources Land Ltd. was off 2.1%, while Shimao Property Holdings shed 2.7%. Among financials, Ping An Insurance Group lost 1.7% and China Life Insurance dropped 2.4%.

Commodities
Base metals took a heavy tumble on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday, with copper closing at its lowest level in three months as an uptick in risk aversion saw broad financial markets slide into the red. At the close, LME three-month copper traded at $8,025 a metric ton, down 4.0% on the day. Tuesday's close marked copper's lowest price since Jan. 16 and its steepest daily loss since mid-December. Crude-oil futures prices settled at a two-month low Tuesday, pressured by fresh worries over signs of slowing Chinese oil demand. The world's second-biggest oil consumer after the U.S. reported a drop in oil imports in March, albeit from a record-high February level. China's wider than expected March trade surplus, which showed relatively weak on-year import growth of only 5.3% in March, far below February's 39.6% and a 9.3% median forecast, sparked fears of a slowdown in the economy, which could result in lower demand for oil. Light sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $1.44, or 1.4%, lower at $101.02 a barrel, the lowest level since Feb. 14. May ICE Brent crude settled $2.79 a barrel lower, at $119.88 a barrel. That's the lowest price since Feb. 17. Gold rose for a third consecutive session, boosted by a late-session bounce as some investors moved to the yellow metal amid mounting losses in equities markets and lingering hopes for continued Federal Reserve support for the economy. The most actively traded contract, for June delivery, rose $16.80, or 1%, to settle at $1,660.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.