U.S. stocks advanced in Wednesday's early trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent, while the S&P 500 gained nine-tenths of a percent. The NASDAQ moved up six-tenths of a percent.

European stock markets were higher in Wednesday's afternoon trading.

London's Financial Times 100 index was up seven-tenths of a percent, with the CAC-40 in Paris up 1.5 percent. The DAX in Frankfurt advanced 1.2 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost two-tenths of a percent to close at 8,748.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up one-half of a percent to end at 19,067.

The price of gold rose $10.32 to trade at $1,715.59 an ounce.

The dollar was down against both the yen and the euro.