U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday as investors were anxious about the trade tensions between Washington and its key trading partners.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 12.34 points, or 0.05 percent, to 25,952.48. The S&P 500 was down 4.80 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,896.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 18.29 points, or 0.23 percent, to 8,091.25.

The Dow declined with Nike and Verizon among the worst performers. Shares of the companies fell 3.16 percent and 2.17 percent, respectively, at market closing. Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors retreated, with telecom and real estate lagging. The Nasdaq also slipped, mainly led by a decline of Facebook shares.

However, Amazon had a big day. The U.S. e-commerce giant has become the second U.S. company after Apple to reach 1 trillion U.S. dollars in market cap on Tuesday as the stock rose nearly 2 percent to a high of 2,050.50 dollars apiece in morning trading. Amazon shares declined a bit after the record high and traded at 2039.51 dollars per piece at the close.

Investors grew concerns over increasing trade tensions between the United States and its major trading partners, experts noted.

The United States and Canada failed to meet the Friday deadline imposed by the Trump administration to revamp the NAFTA trade agreement as major differences remain in bilateral talks.

It is unclear whether the two countries will work out their differences in the next few weeks.

On the economic front, the U.S. manufacturing index registered 61.3 percent in August, beating market consensus, according to the Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday.