By Avantika Chilkoti 

Global stocks were slightly lower Tuesday as concerns over global growth resurfaced, leaving investors questioning whether the strong start to 2019 was a sign of the year ahead or simply a fleeting moment of optimism.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.1% in morning trading, weighed down by bank and mining stocks, with all of the regional indexes moving lower. Most Asian markets also fell, with China's Shanghai Composite down 1.2%, Japan's Nikkei 0.5% lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index losing 0.7%.

Futures pointed to opening falls of 0.6% for both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average when they open following a three-day break after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Moves in futures don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

Concerns around global growth have weighed on equity markets this week. The International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global economic growth in 2019 to 3.5% from a 3.7% estimate posted in October. Meanwhile, official data published Monday showed the Chinese economy grew 6.6% in 2018, the slowest annual pace since 1990.

Anna Stupnytska, global economist at Fidelity International, said the slowdown in China is a positive signal for the world's second-largest economy and suggests Beijing isn't using "unproductive" big-bang stimulus measures.

"It's good for the long-term sustainable story and something investors should be happy about," she said. "But it's not good for markets and it's not good for the rest of the world because the supply chains, the links to other countries, are way too important to ignore."

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was broadly flat.

Equity markets opened the year with a rally. The Stoxx Europe 600 is still up 5.4% this year and the S&P 500 up 6.5%, after a sharp drop in the final quarter of 2018 when U.S.-China trade tensions and the continuing government shutdown left investors questioning whether the U.S. economy would sustain its strong growth for much longer.

Many analysts see no justification for an upturn in equity markets this year.

"What has changed is very little," said Ugo Lancioni, head of the currency business at Neuberger Berman, though he also noted there has been a marked shift in market expectations for U.S. interest rates in the coming months.

In recent weeks Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has repeatedly reassured investors the central bank will be "patient" and "flexible" in its plans to raise rates in the world's largest economy.

"Coupled with better data in the States, what has helped is the Fed turning a little more cautious," Mr. Lancioni added.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dipped to 2.757%, from 2.783% on Friday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Investors will be watching closely for comments from Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, at a meeting later this week.

Analysts at Rabobank see no reason for the ECB to change plans to hold policy through the summer, adding that any decisions will depend on fresh data about the health of the global economy.

"For practical reasons, the ECB would likely still wish to raise rates from their exceptionally low levels, but the risks surrounding this have clearly increased," analysts at Rabobank said in a recent note to clients.

Earlier this month, weeks after the ECB moved to roll back its EUR2.5 trillion ($2.85 trillion) bond-buying program, Mr. Draghi pointed out that external factors including the slowdown in China had triggered an unexpected weakening in the eurozone economy.

Elsewhere in commodities, global benchmark Brent crude oil was down 1.3% to $61.91 a barrel.

Write to Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2019 05:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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