U.S. stock market indexes were higher at closing Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose five-tenths of 1 percent to 12,626. The S&P 500 was up one-tenth of 1 percent to 1,339. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced three-tenths of 1 percent to 2,834.

European stock markets were lower at the close of trading.

London's Financial Times index lost more than one-third of 1 percent to end at 6,003. The CAC-40 in Paris moved down more than four-tenths of 1 percent to finish at 3,961, and the DAX index in Frankfurt slid more than one-tenth of a percent to close at 7,431.

Earlier Wednesday in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained more than 1 percent to finish at 10,082. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost just over 1 percent to finish the day's trading at 22,518.

Gold closed at $1,528.70 per ounce, up from $1,512.30 on Tuesday.

The dollar was higher against the euro but lower against the yen.