U.S. stock market indexes rose in Thursday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose six-tenths of a percent and the NASDAQ gained three-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were higher in afternoon trading. London's Financial Times 100 index gained seven-tenths of a percent, the CAC-40 in Paris moved up 1.1 percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped 1.5 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained two-tenths of a percent to close at 9,467. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost two-tenths of a percent to finish the day's trading at 22,610.

The price of gold rose less than $1 to trade at $1,538.15 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.