U.S. stocks were higher at closing on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose one-quarter of one percent to end the day at slightly more than 11,896.

The S&P 500 was up one-half of one percent to close at just above 1,260. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced nearly one percent to 2,693.

European stock prices closed sharply lower. London's Financial Times index fell 2.3 percent to end the day at 5,585. The CAC-40 index in Paris plunged 1.9 percent to finish at 3,455. The DAX index in Frankfurt fell 2.3 percent to close at nearly 6,641.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index slid more than 2 percent to finish at 9,637. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.9 percent to finish the day's trading at nearly 21,993.

Gold traded at $1,663.40 per ounce, up $21.50 from Tuesday.

The dollar fell against the yen and the euro.