U.S. stock markets declined in Friday's early trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 lost two-thirds of a percent, while the NASDAQ slid nearly half a percent.

European stock markets were lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index was down three-tenths of a percent. The CAC 40 in Paris lost nearly seven-tenths of a percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt moved down nearly two-tenths of a percent.

Earlier Friday in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained half a percent , to close at 9,514. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped eight-tenths of a percent , to end at 22,420.

The price of gold fell more than $14 to trade at $1,529.63 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.