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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Strong gains for European shares | Strong gains for European shares |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| European shares opened higher on Friday at the end of an extraordinary week of trading, taking heart from the gains on Wall Street on Thursday. | European shares opened higher on Friday at the end of an extraordinary week of trading, taking heart from the gains on Wall Street on Thursday. |
| In early trading the FTSE 100 rose 4.3%, the Dax in Frankfurt was up 4% and the Cac 40 in Paris was up 4.6%. | In early trading the FTSE 100 rose 4.3%, the Dax in Frankfurt was up 4% and the Cac 40 in Paris was up 4.6%. |
| It followed gains of 4.7% in New York and 2.8% on Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index. | It followed gains of 4.7% in New York and 2.8% on Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index. |
| The mood was helped by news from IBM, which said it expects to meet long-term profit forecasts and Google, which reported better-than-expected results. | The mood was helped by news from IBM, which said it expects to meet long-term profit forecasts and Google, which reported better-than-expected results. |
| But concerns remain about the state of the global economy. | |
| Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel from a 14-month low as investors bet that fears that demand for energy would be hit by the global downturn were overstated. | Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel from a 14-month low as investors bet that fears that demand for energy would be hit by the global downturn were overstated. |
| Key indexes in South Korea and Australia fell back slightly, though markets were relatively stable in comparison with recent gyrations. | Key indexes in South Korea and Australia fell back slightly, though markets were relatively stable in comparison with recent gyrations. |
| The Nikkei index climbed 235.37 points to end at 8,693.8, having lost more than 11% on Thursday. | The Nikkei index climbed 235.37 points to end at 8,693.8, having lost more than 11% on Thursday. |