U.S. stocks made strong gains by the close of Wednesday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.4 percent to finish at 11,869. The S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to end at 1,242, while the NASDAQ composite index rose half a percent to close at 2,651.

Stock markets in Europe were mixed at the close of business, ahead of a Brussels summit of the continent's leaders and their debate on resolving Europe's debt crisis.

London's Financial Times 100 index closed with a gain of half a percent to finish at 5,553. The CAC-40 index in Paris fell two-tenths of one percent to close at 3,170. The DAX index in Frankfurt dropped half a percent to end at 6,016.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost two-tenths of a percent to close at 8,748. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose half a percent to end at 19,067.

The price of gold rose more than $15 to trade at $1,720.59 an ounce.

The dollar was up against the yen and the euro.