U.S. stocks declined in Tuesday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 dropped eight-tenths of a percent, while the NASDAQ moved down seven-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were mixed in Tuesday's afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index was down two-tenths of a percent, the CAC-40 in Paris fell nine-tenths of a percent, while the DAX in Frankfurt advanced eight-tenths of a percent.

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 $1 to trade at $1,654.18 an ounce.

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