European and U.S. stock indexes retreated sharply Wednesday, giving back big gains from the day before.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 4.6 percent to end at 10,719. The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent to close at 1,121 while the NASDAQ fell 4.1 percent to hit 2,381.

European stock indexes ended lower on continued worries about the debt woes faced by governments on the continent.

London's Financial Times index closed down 3.1 percent to end at 5,007. The CAC-40 in Paris fell 5.5 percent to finish the day's trading at 3,003. The DAX index in Frankfurt dropped 5.1 percent to close at 5,613.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 1.1 percent to finish at 9,039. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 2.3 percent to finish the day's trading at 19,784.

The price of gold rose more than $50 to trade at $1,791.63 an ounce.

The dollar is trading lower against the yen, but up against the euro.