U.S. stock market indexes were mixed in Wednesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 gained two-tenths of a percent, while the NASDAQ lost two-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 end at 5,206. The CAC-40 in Paris moved up 1.8 percent to finish at 3,140, and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped 2.7 percent to hit 5,681.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 1.1 percent to finish at 8,640, wiping out gains made early in the day's trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.1 percent to finish the day's trading at 19,467.

The price of gold fell nearly $66 to trade at $1,762.47 an ounce.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the euro.