U.S. stock market indexes fell in Friday's midday trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 1.5 percent, while both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ slid more than 1.5 percent.

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index was down more than 1.5 percent to end at 5,766. The CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.9 percent to finish at 3,805, and the DAX in Frankfurt slid 1.25 percent to close at 7,070.

Earlier Friday in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained half a percent , to close at 9,514. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped eight-tenths of a percent , to end at 22,420.

The price of gold fell more than $15 to trade at $1,528.55 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.