U.S. and European stock indexes dropped sharply Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than one percent in early trading, while the S&P 500 is off 1.5 percent. The NASDAQ is down 1.6 percent.

European stock markets were sharply lower in afternoon trading.

London’s Financial Times 100 index is down 1.8 percent. The CAC-40 in Paris is off 2.4 percent and the DAX in Frankfurt is down 2.7 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index was virtually unchanged, to close at 8,700.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 2.3 percent , to end at 17,592.

Gold was trading up $1.90 at $1,616.59 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was up against the euro, but unchanged against the yen.