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

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

Stocks closed sharply higher in Europe.

London's Financial Times index ended up 2.4 percent to finish at 5,395. The CAC 40 in Paris advanced 3.1 percent to end at 3,257. The DAX index in Frankfurt closed up 2.5 percent to end at 5,785.

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 $6.90 at $1,828.63 an ounce.

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