U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Friday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both fell nine-tenths of a percent while the NASDAQ lost one percent.

European stock markets were higher in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index and the CAC-40 in Paris moved up half a percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt rose two-tenths of a percent.

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 $13 to trade at $1,508.25 an ounce.

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