U.S. stock market indexes closed down four to five percentage points in Thursday's trading, amid continued concern over the progress of global economic growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 4.3 percent to 11,384. The broader S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent to 1,200 and the NASDAQ composite index fell 5 percent to 2,556.

European stock markets also finished sharply lower.

London's Financial Times 100 index fell 3.4 percent to finish at 5,393. The CAC-40 in Paris dropped 3.9 percent to close at 3,320. The DAX in Frankfurt dipped 3.4 percent to end at 6,415.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained two-tenths of a percent to finish at 9,659. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped half a percent to finish the day's trading at 21,885.

The price of gold retreated from record highs to trade at $1,647.09 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.