U.S. stock market indexes advanced in Tuesday's afternoon trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9 0 percent (115 points) to end at 12,685. The S&P 500 gained 0.7 0 percent (10 points) to hit 1,381, and the NASDAQ rose 0.8 0 percent (18 points) to reach 2,345.
European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index moved up 1.5 percent (88 points) to reach 6,087. The CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.1 percent (54 points) to end at 4,973, and the DAX in Frankfurt gained 1.5 percent (103 points) to hit 6,986.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index fell 0.7 percent (90 points) to finish the day at 13,825. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced nearly two percent (446 points) to end at 23,715.
The price of gold rose almost $9 to trade at $948.51 an ounce.
The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.
