Declining oil prices were not enough to boost U.S. stocks Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S & P 500, and the NASDAQ all lost four-tenths of a percent or more in mid-day trading.
European share prices were mixed at the close. London's Financial Times index gained seven points to close at 4984. The CAC-40 in Paris was unchanged to finish at 4124, and the DAX index in Frankfurt moved up 11 points to reach 4401.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 64 points to finish at 11,875. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 64 points to end at 13,667.
The price of gold is up a bit more than one dollar, trading at 426 dollars and 96-cents an ounce in New York.
The dollar in New York is lower against the yen and the euro.