U.S. stock market indexes rose in Tuesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 advanced half a percent while the NASDAQ gained three-tenths of a percent

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 more than $4 to trade at $1,539.95 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen but lost value compared to the euro.