U.S. stock indexes advanced in early trading Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 key stocks is up eight-tenths of one percent, while both the broader S&P 500 and the technology-laden NASDAQ are ahead by one percent.

Stocks moved up sharply in afternoon trading in Europe.

London's Financial Times index is up 2.3 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris is ahead 2.7 percent, and the DAX index in Frankfurt is up more than 3 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index was virtually unchanged to finish at 8,955.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose more than 1.6 percent to finish the day's trading at 20,535.

Gold is trading down $5.26 at $1,830.26 an ounce.

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