Stocks advanced in the United States and Europe on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up seven-tenths of 1 percent in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 is ahead nine-tenths of a percent, while the NASDAQ is up 1.5 percent.

European stocks closed sharply higher.

London's Financial Times index ended up 3.2 percent , to finish at 5,102. The CAC 40 in Paris finished ahead 4.3 percent to close at 2,974. The DAX index in Frankfurt jumped 4.9 percent to end at 5,473.

Tokyo's Nikkei index fell nine-tenths of 1 percent to finish at 8,383. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was closed.

Gold is trading up $16.97 at $1,640.80 an ounce.

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