U.S. stocks were lower at closing Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped one tenth of a percent to 12,572. The S&P 500 was a fraction of a percent lower at 1,326. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell four tenths of one percent to 2,814.

European stock prices were higher at the closing.

London's Financial Times index gained 1.1 percent to end at 5,854. The CAC 40 index in Paris jumped 1.6 percent to close at 3,755. The DAX index in Frankfurt finished up four-tenths of a percent at 7,221.

In Asia Wednesday, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained nearly 1.2 percent to finish at 10,006. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up nearly one-half of a percent to finish the day's trading at 22,004.

Gold closed at $1,596.70 per ounce, down from $1,600.90 per ounce.

The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.