U.S. stock market indexes rose in Friday's morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced nine-tenths of one percent, the S&P 500 rose seven-tenths of a percent and the NASDAQ gained eight-tenths of a percent.

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

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained half a percent , to close at 9,868. Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday.

The price of gold fell nearly $16 to trade at $1,484.21 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.