U.S. stocks made gains in Wednesday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose half a percent, the S&P 500 gained seven-tenths of a percent while the NASDAQ moved up eight-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets made strong gains in Wednesday's midday trading. London's Financial Times index rose eight-tenths of a percent, the CAC-40 in Paris gained 2.4 percent, and the DAX in Germany jumped 1.9 percent.

Markets in Asia closed mixed. Tokyo's Nikkei index fell four-tenths of a percent to finish at 8,739. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed one percent higher (188 points), at 18,329.

The price of gold rose more than $20 to trade at $1,682.50 an ounce.

The dollar was up against the yen but lost value compared to the euro.