U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Thursday's midday trading, following a significant plunge on European exchanges.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 2.4 percent. The broader S&P 500 is off 2.6 percent, and the NASDAQ by 2.7 percent.

European stock markets finished sharply lower.

London's Financial Times 100 index fell 3.4 percent to finish at 5,393. The CAC-40 in Paris dropped 3.9 percent to close at 3,320. The DAX in Frankfurt dipped 3.4 percent to end at 6,415.

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 retreated from record highs to trade at $1,653.70 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.