Major U.S. and European stock indexes advanced on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.3 percent to close at 11,247. The broader S&P 500 index closed up 1.4 percent to finish at 1,189. The technology-laden NASDAQ advanced 1.6 percent to end at 2,573.

European stocks also closed higher.

London's Financial Times index ended one percent higher at 5,227. The CAC 40 in Paris closed up 1.9 percent to end at 2,949. The DAX index in Frankfurt advanced 3.4 percent to finish at 5,340.

Earlier Wednesday, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 1.1 percent to finish at 8,519. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained one-tenth of one percent to finish the day's trading at 19,045.

Gold is trading down $14.68 at $1,818.93 an ounce.

The dollar is trading down against both the euro and yen.