European stocks are lower in midday trading.
In London, the Financial Times Index is down 20 points at 5,258, while in Paris the Cac-40 Index is down 24 points at 4,549. The Dax-Index in Frankfurt is 65 points (1.3 percent) lower at 4,929.
In New York, the S&P-futures contract is up about one point, indicating a marginally higher open for U.S. stocks, which posted mixed results Thursday.
Earlier in Tokyo, the Nikkei Index fell 216 points (more than two percent) to close at 10,216, but in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index picked up 71 points to end the day at 10,609.
The price of gold in London is $277.30 an ounce, down $2.65.
The dollar is higher against the other major currencies.