U.S. stocks made strong gains in Friday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 1.4 percent while the NASDAQ moved up 1.5 percent.

European stock markets were higher in Friday's afternoon trading.

London's Financial Times 100 index was up 1.6 percent, the CAC-40 in Paris gained 1.9 percent while the DAX in Frankfurt advanced 1.8 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost nine-tenths of a percent , to close at 8,748. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.4 percent , to end at 18,502.

The price of gold rose nearly $11 to trade at $1,679.02 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was up against the yen but lost value compared to the euro.