U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply in Thursday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent, and the NASDAQ slid 1.6 percent.

European stock markets were sharply lower at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost 1.4 percent to end at 5,131. The CAC 40 in Paris moved down seven-tenths of one percent to finish at 3,119. The DAX in Frankfurt plunged 1.7 percent as some investors worried that officials might restrict short selling of stock .

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 rose more than $1 to trade at $1,760.25 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.