The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed at the beginning of the trading session after the fall of the indices

Japanese stocks fell and the Nikkei index average dropped on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday as the fall in European stocks and US stocks were closed on Thursday.

The Nikkei <.N225> was down 0.26% to 21,700.20 and the TOPIX <.TOPX> down 0.37% to 1,572.09.

European stock markets fell sharply on Thursday after the European Central Bank signaled a future easing of monetary policy, but disappointed investors who wanted more clarity on its measures to stimulate the economic slowdown.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the risk of recession in the eurozone was "very low" and that policymakers had not discussed the reduction of interest rates when of the meeting on Thursday and were waiting for more information before taking action. "He said.

The US stock market fell on Thursday after records after a wave of disappointing quarterly results from Ford Motor and other companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 128.92 points, or 0.47%, to 27,141.05.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index yielded 15.87 points, or 0.53%, to record 3,003.69 points.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 82.96 points, or 1%, to 8238.54.