US Stocks Up Sharply on Wednesday

U.S. stock indexes moved sharply higher on Wednesday, following gains on European markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.3 percent and the S & P 500 is up by 1.4 percent. The NASDAQ index was ahead by 2 percent.

In Europe, London’s Financial Times 100 index closed up 1.4 percent (76 points) to finish at 5,657. The CAC-40 in Paris rose six-tenths of a percent (23 points) to close at 3,748. The DAX in Frankfurt gained 1.8 percent (119 points) to end at 6,824.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index lost nearly one percent (85 points) to close at 10,030.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained half a percent (128 points), to end at 23,024.

Gold was trading down $3 at $1,373.40 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was up against both the euro and yen.

Some information in this story was provided by Bloomberg.