U.S. stock market indexes fell in Wednesday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated one-tenth of a percent, the S&P 500 lost two-tenths and the NASDAQ dropped six-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index and the CAC-40 in Paris moved down seven-tenths of a percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt fell nine-tenths of a percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained one-tenth of a percent to finish at 9,449. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost nearly one percent to finish the day's trading at 22,662.

The price of gold fell more than $6 to trade at $1,538.09 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen but gained value compared to the euro.