China Weakness Spreads Far and Wide, From Caterpillar to Nvidia

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures huge yellow bulldozers. Nvidia Corp. makes minuscule computer chips. Their products have little in common, but their earnings on Monday pointed to the same direction: demand in China is slowing down for a widening range of goods.

The world’s second-largest economy, which contributes about a third of global growth, has been weakening for years after averaging more than 10 percent growth for three decades through 2010. The pace of expansion cooled to 6.6 percent last year, the slowest since 1990, while retail sales grew 9 percent, the least since 2003.