Major U.S. stock indexes were mixed in midday trading Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about one-fifth of a percent, while the NASDAQ Composite index was down by a similar margin. The S&P 500 index was fractionally higher.

European stock markets closed with small gains.

Frankfurt's DAX index rose 0.2 percent to close at 7,085, London's Financial Times 100 index gained 0.1 percent to 5,773 and the Paris CAC 40 index finished up 0.1 percent at 3,808.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index closed down 0.7 percent at 9,448. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished up 0.4 percent at 22,508.

The spot price of gold was trading at $1,524 an ounce.

The dollar was stronger against the euro and weaker versus the yen.