U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday at mid-day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S & P 500 gained three-tenths of a percent or more, while the NASDAQ posted a very small loss.
European share prices were down at the close. London's Financial Times index lost 44 points to end at 4,989.
The CAC-40 in Paris dropped 25 points to finish at 3,977, and the DAX index in Frankfurt lost 13 points to hit 4,311.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei index dropped 98 points (nearly 1%) to finish at 11,500.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 133 points (nearly 1%) to finish at 13,958.
The price of gold fell 59 cents, trading at 435 dollars and 26 cents an ounce in New York. The dollar in New York is up against the yen and the euro.