European markets are mixed Tuesday as the worsening coronavirus pandemic around the world, coupled with political turmoil in the United States, is putting a damper on trading activity.

At the midday point of the trading day, London's FTSE index is down 0.6%, the CAC-40 index in Paris is nearly 3 points lower but unchanged percentage-wise (-0.04%) and Frankfurt's DAX index is up nearly 4 points but is also unchanged (+0.03%).

Asian markets were mixed earlier Tuesday. The Nikkei index in Tokyo finished 25 points higher, but was virtually unchanged percentage-wise (+0.09%), while the Shanghai Composite rose 2.1%. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index rose 1.3%, and Mumbai's Sensex closed 0.5% higher.

Sydney's S&P/ASX index lost 0.2%. Seoul's KOSPI index closed 0.7% lower, while the TSEC index in Taipei was down 0.3%.

In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,858.40, up 0.4%. U.S. crude oil is selling at $52.90 per barrel, up 1.2%, while Brent crude is also 1.2% higher, selling at $56.35 per barrel.

With the opening bell on Wall Street looming, the three major U.S. indices -- the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq -- are all trending positively in futures trading.