U.S. stocks trade lower on Tuesday, as U.S. producer prices rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.1 percent in August.

In the midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 53.15 to 11,501.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.09 to 1, 315.09. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 23.78 to 2,211.97.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that U.S. producer prices rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.1 percent in August.

The core rate of the producer price index fell 0.4 percent, the largest drop since April 2003 and the first two-month decline since late 2002. Energy prices moderated in August, rising 0.3 percent after a 1.3 percent gain in July. This was the smallest increase since February.

Source: Xinhua