U.S. stock market indexes rose in Wednesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced six-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 rose eight-tenths of a percent, and the NASDAQ gained four-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index gained 1.5 percent to finish at 5,856. The CAC-40 in Paris moved up 1.9 percent to end at 3,924, and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped 1.7 percent to hit 7,294.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index rose 1.5 percent to finish at 9,797. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed at 22,061, unchanged from Tuesday.

The price of gold rose nearly $11 to trade at $1,512.03 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.