U.S. stock market indexes fell in Tuesday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost two-tenths of a percent to end at 12,071. The S&P 500 retreated one-tenth of a percent to hit 1,285 while the NASDAQ slid less than one-tenth of a percent to close at 2,702.

European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index gained less than one-tenth of a percent to finish at 5,865. The CAC-40 in Paris moved up two-tenths of a percent to hit 3,872 and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped three-tenths of a percent to reach 7,103.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained seven-tenths of a percent to finish at 9,443. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost one-third of a percent to finish the day's trading at 22,869.

The price of gold fell less than $1 to trade at $1,544.33 an ounce.

The dollar was down against the yen and the euro.