Asian shares ended down except China's Shanghai Composite index gained 0.7 percent. Singapore's Straits Times index declined 1.1 percent and Japan's NIKKEI-225 fell 0.9 percent. South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.1 percent down.

European shares were up in intra-day trade. France's CAC gained 0.7 percent. Germany's DAX and London's FTSE-100 both were trading 0.3 percent up.