U.S. stock indexes retreated sharply in early trading Wednesday, giving back big gains from the day before.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 2.5 percent, with the broader S&P 500 down 2.4 percent. The NASDAQ was down 2.3 percent.

European stock prices were also down in afternoon trading.

London's Financial Times index is down 1.6 percent. The CAC-40 in Paris is off 3 percent, while the DAX index in Frankfurt is down 2.2 percent.

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.

Gold is trading up $28.93 at $1,769.88 an ounce.

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