NEW YORK — Industrial stocks stumbled yesterday after China said it would take more steps to keep its economy from growing too fast.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 45 points but had fallen as much as 160 points. Shares of three Dow stocks with extensive business overseas — Alcoa, Boeing and General Electric — all fell more than 1 percent.

Regulators in China are trying to keep the nation's rapid economic growth from getting out of hand. But investors worry that a slowdown in China could disrupt a U.S. recovery by hurting exports and profits of companies that do business there.