World stock markets advanced broadly on Tuesday as hope grew that the European debt crisis would be resolved.

U.S. stock indexes moved higher in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 key stocks is up 2.6 percent, with the S&P 500 ahead 2.5 percent. The technology-laden NASDAQ is up 2.4 percent.

European stock prices closed sharply higher.

London's Financial Times index ended ahead 4 percent to close at 5,294. The CAC-40 in Paris finished up 5.7 percent to end at 3,023. The DAX index in Frankfurt advanced 5.3 percent , to 5,628.

Earlier, in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index jumped 2.8 percent to finish at 8,610.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 4.2 percent to finish the day's trading at 18,131.

Gold is trading up $34.32 at $1,661.20 an ounce.

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