Stocks tumbled on Tuesday, sending the Nasdaq briefly down 2 percent, as investors worried that the economy remains far from a robust recovery that would underpin corporate profits.

A breach of key technical support by the benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX>, below the 885 level, accentuated the sell-off.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 129.38 points, or 1.55 percent, to 8,195.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 13.69 points, or 1.52 percent, to 885.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slid 31.82 points, or 1.78 percent, to 1,755.58.

The benchmark index was on track to finish below its 200-day moving average for the third time since the start of the latest market rally in early March.

(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Leslie Adler)