U.S. stocks declined slightly in Friday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off four points at 10,534. The S & P 500 was down one point at 1197 and the NASDAQ lost two points at 2069.
European stocks were down in mid-day trading. The Financial Times Index in London, the CAC-40 in Paris, and the DAX in Frankfurt all lost one-tenth of a percent or more.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index rose 164 points about 1.5% to finish at 11,192. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 145 points more than 1% to end at 13,715.
The the price of gold is up more than one dollar, trading at 418 dollars and 95 cents in New York.
The dollar is up against the yen, but declined in value compared to the euro in New York trading.