Stock markets across the globe followed Wall Street's lead on Friday, with investors fleeing to so-called "safe havens" and dumping riskier assets.
The Nikkei 225 (Nihon Kenzai Shinbun: .N225) finished its worst trading week since March 2011 as stocks slipped 2.38 percent on Friday, dropping below 14,000 points for the first time since October. In Europe, the German DAX (XETRA:^GDAXI - News) sank 1.4 percent by mid-morning with the U.K.'s FTSE (FTSE International: .FTSE) 100 losing 1.2 percent.
Read More Stocks could continue to lose ground
U.S. futures pointed to lower open on Friday and volatility remained high with the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index (INDEX:^VIX - News)) index - a gauge of fear in U.S. markets - rising to 15.89 at the close on Thursday. This was a daily rise of 14.98 percent and the largest daily percentage increase since February 3.
"The capital markets are confused and are confusing," commodities investor Dennis Gartman said in a research note on Friday morning. He added that "safety" has become the dominant investment theme as the "music in the capital markets seems to be ending for a while."
The selloff began Thursday afternoon in the U.S. with momentum stocks suddenly sinking after several weeks of volatility. Momentum stocks are fast-rising stocks which can unexpectedly reverse when investors fear they have overshot and a bubble is brewing. High-flying technology and biotech shares led the declines as the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:^NDX - News) posted its worst session in more than two years.
And it was the same story in Asia and Europe with big name technology companies bearing the brunt of the selling. Chip maker ARM Holdings (London Stock Exchange: ARM-GB) lost 3.4 percent in morning trade, Logitech (Swiss Exchange: LOG.N-CH) sank 2.7 percent, Sage Group (London Stock Exchange: SGE-GB) fell 2.6 percent and Software AG (XETRA:SOW-DE) slipped 2.6 percent. In Japan, Softbank (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984.T-JP) crumbled 4 percent, Rakuten (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4755.T-JP) eased over 2 percent and Panasonic lost 1.5 percent.
Read More Japan's Nikkei suffers worst week since Fukushima
"Momentum stocks around the world have been getting crushed. It's already a deep bear market," John Vail, the chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management told CNBC Friday.
Safe havens saw some buying with spot gold (Exchange:XAU=) continuing its recent rise. The precious metal was priced at $1,320 per ounce by 11 a.m. London time on Friday after closing at $1.318 per ounce on Thursday evening. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury stabilized at 2.6410 percent after seeing a steady decline in the previous session.