U.S. stocks were down at mid-day Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S & P 500 lost two-tenths of a percent or more, while the NASDAQ was off just slightly.
European share prices were lower at the close. London's Financial Times index lost seven points to end at 4,983. The CAC-40 in Paris was down 16 points to finish at 4,102 and the DAX index in Frankfurt dropped 10 points to hit 4,397.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 25 points to finish at 11,134. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 20 points to end at 13,719.
The price of gold is down just two cents, trading at 417 dollars and 53 cents an ounce in New York.
The dollar is down against the yen and but up compared to the euro in New York.