U.S. stock market indexes fell in Thursday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated a half-percent, the S&P 500 fell four-tenths of a percent and the NASDAQ slid six-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were sharply lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost 1.2 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris moved down six-tenths of a percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt plunged 3.7 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 1.5 percent to finish at 8,772. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.5 percent to finish the day's trading at 19,752.

The price of gold fell more than $32 to trade at $1,726.46 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.