U.S. stocks declined in Tuesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nine-tenths of one percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent, while the NASDAQ slid 1.2 percent.

European stock markets were down by the close of Tuesday's trading. London's Financial Times 100 index was down four-tenths of a percent to end at 5,526. The CAC-40 in Paris fell 1.4 percent to end at 3,174 while the DAX in Frankfurt retreated one-tenth of a percent to finish at 6,047.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost nine-tenths of a percent to close at 8,762. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.1 percent to end at 18,968.

The price of gold rose nearly $41 to trade at $1,694.45 an ounce.

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