US stocks traded sharply lower on Friday following a global decline in equities on renewed Greece worries and new Chinese trading regulations. The three major U.S. indexes suffered their worst half-day since March 25. European stock indexes ended sharply lower on Friday, following a selloff in Chinese futures over news of coming government regulation to expand short-selling and limit over-the-counter margin trading. Focus for European markets has been on Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' visit to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials, as investors become increasingly nervous about the funding crisis in Greece. In U.S. economic news, consumer prices rose slightly as gasoline costs increased, and a measure of future economic activity rose slightly for the third consecutive month, signaling a period of weaker growth. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell more than 50 cents to above $56 a barrel in early-afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures gained about $5.50 to above $1,200 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.4 percent in early-afternoon trade on Wall Street, with General Electric (GE) the only gainer. The broader Standard & Poor's 50 index fell 1.1 percent, with all ten of its sectors declining. The technology-heavy Nasdaq index was down 1.5 percent.
