U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Thursday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.4 percent, and the NASDAQ slid 1.6 percent.

European stock markets were lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index fell 1.7 percent, the CAC-40 in Paris moved down 1.3 percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt was off 1.1 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained two-tenths of a percent to finish at 9,659. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped half a percent to finish the day's trading at 21,885.

The price of gold rose more than $15 to trade at $1,677.28 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.