U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Friday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost eight-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 dropped one percent, while the NASDAQ lost 1.2 percent.

European stock markets were mixed at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index advanced four-tenths of a percent to end at 5,698. The CAC-40 in Paris slid one-tenth of a percent to reach 3,785 and the DAX in Frankfurt rose four-tenths of a percent to close at 7,121.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained nine-tenths of a percent , to close at 9,679. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.9 percent , to end at 22,172.

The price of gold fell more than $18 to trade at $1,503.05 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen but made gains compared to the euro.