The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 167.09 points, or 0.56 percent, to 29,783.35. The S&P 500 decreased 17.38 points, or 0.48 percent, to 3,609.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 24.79 points, or 0.21 percent, to 11,899.34.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors declined, with utilities closing down 2.01 percent, leading the laggards. Energy rose 0.5 percent, the best-performing group.
Tesla shares jumped 8.21 percent on the news that the U.S. electric vehicle maker will be added to the S&P 500 index in December.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower, with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
U.S. retail sales increased 0.3 percent in October, following a downwardly revised 1.6 percent gain in September, the Department of Commerce reported on Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists had forecast retail sales would gain 0.5 percent in October.
The less-than-expected growth in retail sales indicated that U.S. consumers are becoming more hesitant amid spiraling new COVID-19 infections in the nation.
"COVID appears to have already slowed spending between September and October, and it will almost certainly slow further in November," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note Tuesday, adding "this winter will be a tough test for the economy."
The United States has reported more than 11.2 million COVID-19 cases in total with the death toll exceeding 248,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, U.S. equities rallied with the Dow and the S&P 500 both closing at record highs, fueled by encouraging news on a coronavirus vaccine candidate.
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