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

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost one percent to close at 5,809. The CAC-40 in Paris moved down nine-tenths of a percent to finish at 3,838 while the DAX in Frankfurt fell six-tenths of a percent to hit 7,060.

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 $8 to trade at $1,535.68 an ounce.

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