World stock indexes continued to fall on Friday.

After rallying in early trading, U.S. stock indexes fell sharply, adding more losses for investors beyond Thursday’s steep declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1.7 percent in midday trading. The broader S & P 500 index is off 2.2 percent, with the NASDAQ dropping by 3.1 percent.

European stock markets closed markedly lower.

London’s Financial Times 100 index dropped 2.7 percent to end at 5,247. The CAC-40 in Paris was off 1.3 percent to close at 3,279, while the DAX in Frankfurt fell 2.8 percent to finish at 6,236.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index dropped 3.7 percent , to close at 9,300.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged 4.3 percent , to end at 20,946.

Gold was trading up $3.88 at $1,650.40 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar fell against both the euro and yen.