U.S. stock market indexes rose strongly in Friday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.2 percent to finish at 11,284. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5 percent to close at 1,177 and the NASDAQ gained 2.5 percent to end at 2,480.

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost less than one-tenth of one percent to finish at 5,130. The CAC-40 in Paris moved down 1 percent to end at 3,088, and the DAX in Frankfurt dropped eight-tenths of a percent to reach 5,537.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained three-tenths of one percent , to close at 8,798. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped nine-tenths of a percent , to end at 19,583.

The price of gold rose more than $45 to trade at $1,819.90 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.