NEW YORK, June 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday as concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China increased, weighing on the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 287.26 points, or 1.15 percent, to 24,700.21. The S&P 500 decreased 11.18 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,762.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 21.44 points, or 0.28 percent, to 7,725.59.

The Dow's triple-digit losses were mainly led by the decline of Boeing and Caterpillar. The shares of Boeing and Caterpillar dropped 3.84 percent and 3.62 percent, respectively, at market closing. The two stocks are sensitive to trade tensions since they have a large portion of overseas business.

Meanwhile, shares of U.S. chipmakers Nvidia and Qualcomm fell 1.86 percent and 0,84 percent, respectively.

On the economic front, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,350,000. The reading is 5.0 percent above the revised April estimate of 1,286,000 and is 20.3 percent above the May 2017 rate, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

Building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,301,000, 4.6 percent below the revised April rate of 1,364,000 while housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,291,000, 1.9 percent above the revised April estimate of 1,267,000, the same filing said. Enditem