U.S. stock market indexes declined in Friday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated half a percent, the S&P 500 fell three-tenths of one percent and the NASDAQ lost one-tenth of a percent.

European stock markets were sharply lower in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index lost 1.5 percent, the CAC-40 in Paris moved down 2.6 percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt dropped 2.8 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained three-tenths of one percent , to close at 8,798. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped nine-tenths of a percent , to end at 19,583.

The price of gold rose more than $7 to trade at $1,781.90 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.