U.S. stock indexes advanced sharply Tuesday in a day when stocks swung back and forth from losses to gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 percent to close at 11,240. The S & P 500 jumped 4.7 percent to end at 1,173 while the NASDAQ rose 5.3 percent to hit 2,483.

In Europe, London's Financial Times 100 index jumped 1.9 percent to end at 5,165, while the CAC-40 in Paris closed up 1.6 percent to finish at 3,176. The DAX in Frankfurt dropped one-tenth of a percent to end the day's trading at 5,917.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei index ended down 1.7 percent to close at 8,944. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped 5.7 percent to end at 19,331.

The price of gold gained more than $15 to trade at $1,734.82 an ounce.

The dollar is down against the yen and euro.