U.S. stock market indexes were mixed in Friday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated two-tenths of a percent, while the S&P 500 gained one-tenth of a percent, the NASDAQ gained eight-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index moved up six-tenths of a percent to finish at 5,935. The CAC-40 in Paris advanced seven-tenths of a percent to end at 3,843 and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped half a percent to hit 7,326.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 1.2 percent , to close at 10,132. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.1 percent , to end at 22,445.

The price of gold rose nearly $11 to trade at $1,601.48 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.