U.S. stocks were mixed in Tuesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained seven-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 advanced one percent, while the NASDAQ fell seven-tenths of a percent.

European stock prices were mixed at the close of trading. London's Financial Times index lost half a percent to close at 5,410. The CAC-40 in Paris slid eight-tenths of a percent to end at 3,141, while the DAX index in Frankfurt gained three-tenths of a percent to hit 5,877.

Tokyo's Nikkei index index lost 1.6 percent to finish at 8,742. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 4.2 percent to finish the day's trading at 18,076.

The price of gold fell more than $16 to trade at $1,654.77 an ounce.

The dollar is down against the yen but up against the euro.