U.S. stock market indexes were mixed in Tuesday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost one-third of a percent (44 points) to end at 12,215, and the S & P 500 was off 0.3 percent (five points) to finish the day at 1,327. But the NASDAQ gained about 0.1 percent (two points) to hit 2,260.

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index dropped nearly one percent (51 points) to hit 5,768. The CAC-40 in Paris lost 1.4 percent (67 points) to reach 4,676, while the DAX in Frankfurt fell more than two percent (145 points) to finish the day at 6,545.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index was unchanged at 12,992. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell nearly two percent (465 points) to finish the day at 23,120.

The price of gold fell more than $20 to trade at $963.56 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.