European shares indexes fluctuated between small losses and gains of more than 3%, as traders took heart from the gains on Wall Street on Thursday.
US shares opened lower after official figures showed a sharper than expected deterioration in the number of new homes being built.
In early afternoon trading, the FTSE 100 was up 2.3%, the Dax in Frankfurt was up 2.9% and the Cac 40 in Paris was up 2.2%.
European shares indexes have fluctuated throughout the day and were trading higher by the early afternoon.
That followed gains of 4.7% in New York and 2.8% on Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index.
The FTSE 100 was up 2%, and both Germany's Dax index and France's Cac 40 were up 1.3%.
It comes at the end of a week of rallies and slumps, unseen since the crash of 1987.
It comes at the end of a week of rallies and slumps, unseen since the crash of 1987.
Rallies and slumps
Rallies and slumps
Stock markets have been rising and falling all week as investors try to decide how severe the global economic downturn will be.
Stock markets have been rising and falling all week as investors try to decide how severe the global economic downturn will be.
"This is the most volatile week we've seen," said Thierry Lacraz, strategist at Swiss bank Pictet in Geneva.
"This is the most volatile week we've seen," said Thierry Lacraz, strategist at Swiss bank Pictet in Geneva.
"The sole intelligent thing is to remain on the sidelines and not make any huge bets."
"The sole intelligent thing is to remain on the sidelines and not make any huge bets."
In his latest effort to reassure the markets, US President George W Bush told the US Chamber of Commerce it would take time for his administration's financial rescue plan to work.
In his latest effort to reassure the markets, US President George W Bush told the US Chamber of Commerce it would take time for his administration's financial rescue plan to work.
"It took a while for the credit system to freeze up, it's going to take a while for the credit system to thaw," he said, adding that the rescue moves were "big enough and bold enough to work".
"It took a while for the credit system to freeze up, it's going to take a while for the credit system to thaw," he said, adding that the rescue moves were "big enough and bold enough to work".
Among other developments:
Credit rating agency Fitch downgrades Hungary's outlook from "stable" to "negative" as it considers that the global financial crisis has increased the country's credit risk
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Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel on expectations that Opec would decide to cut production at its upcoming meeting
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Share indexes in South Korea and Australia fell back slightly, though markets were relatively stable compared with recent gyrations
The
Nikkei index climbed 235.37 points or 2.8% to end at 8,693.8, having lost more than 11% on Thursday
The
Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed barely changed
German
bank shares were helped by news that the German parliament had passed a 500bn euro ($672bn; £389bn) bank rescue package
Bombay's
Sensex closed down 5.7% or 606.14 points at 9,975.35
Among other developments:
Credit rating agency Fitch downgrades Hungary's outlook from "stable" to "negative" as it considers that the global financial crisis has increased the country's credit risk
class="bulletList">
Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel on expectations that Opec would decide to cut production at its upcoming meeting
class="bulletList">
Share indexes in South Korea and Australia fell back slightly, though markets were relatively stable compared with recent gyrations
The
Nikkei index climbed 235.37 points or 2.8% to end at 8,693.8, having lost more than 11% on Thursday
The
Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed barely changed
German
bank shares were helped by news that the German parliament had passed a 500bn euro ($672bn; £389bn) bank rescue package
Bombay's
Sensex closed down 5.7% or 606.14 points at 9,975.35
Eyes on New York
With Friday trading still to come, the Dow is 6.3% higher than it was at the start of the week.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed up 400 points on Thursday, although it had been down by as much as 400 earlier in the session.
It followed Wednesday's session, when it had also suffered its worst fall since 1987.
Overall, it has been an extraordinary week of volatile trading.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 ended the week 5% higher than it had started, despite suffering its worst single day percentage fall since 1987 on Thursday, when it fell 11%.
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