U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Thursday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.8 percent and the NASDAQ dropped 1.6 percent.

European stock markets were lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost 1.5 percent, the CAC-40 in Paris moved down 2.1 percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt slid 1.7 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost three-tenths of a percent to finish at 9,597. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost half a percent to finish the day's trading at 21,759.

The price of gold fell nearly $27 trade at $1,522.08 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.