European markets are down early Thursday. Here's the scorecard: France's CAC 40 is down 0.4%. Germany's DAX is down 0.6%. Spain's IBEX is up 0.6% Italy's FTSE MIB is down 0.9%. Britain's FTSE 100 down 0.2%. Asian markets closed down with Nikkei's 225 closing down 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closing down 0.7% U.S.