The Dow Jones industrial average fell from a gain of more than 150 points to a loss of 236.77 to 11,147.44 points, off 2.08 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.28 percent, or 29.01 points, to 1,244.69. The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.6 percent to 2,234.89, down 59.55 points.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,072 stocks advanced and 2,093 declined on a volume of 1.49 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 19/32 to yield 3.815 percent.

The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.5748 from Tuesday's $1.5737, while the dollar traded at 106.67 yen from Monday's 106.81 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 19.03 points to 13,052.13, up 0.15 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 89.10 to 5,529.60, up 1.64 percent.