U.S. stocks rose strongly at the end of Tuesday's trading as investors speculated that European Union officials may work out ways to help that region's banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4 percent (153 points) to close at 10,809. The S&P 500 jumped 2.3 percent (25 points) to end at 1,124 and the NASDAQ rose 3 percent (69 points) to finish at 2,405.

Earlier, stocks plummeted in Europe.

London's Financial Times index lost 2.6 percent (131 points) to end at 4,944. The CAC-40 in Paris also dropped 2.6 percent (76 points) to finish at 2,851. The DAX index in Frankfurt slid 3 percent (160 points), to close at 5,217.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 1.1 percent (89 points) to finish at 8,456. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 3.4 percent (572 points) to finish the day's trading at 16,250.

The price of gold lost more than $41 to trade at $1,617.11 an ounce.

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