U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Wednesday's midday trading as investors worried that partisan bickering in Washington might eventually result in a default on U.S. obligations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated eight-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ lost 1.8 percent.

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost 1.2 percent to close at 5,857. The CAC-40 in Paris moved down 1.4 percent to end at 3,734 and the DAX in Frankfurt slid 1.3 percent to hit 7,253.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index fell half a percent to finish at 10,047. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost one-tenth of a percent to finish the day's trading at 22,542.

The price of gold fell more than $7 to trade at $1,612.01 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.