European stock markets were mixed today after a tumultuous day of trading in which concerns about contagion in the euro zone's debt crisis spurred activity.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares closed down 1.02% to 5,968.96 points.
In Frankfurt, the DAX shed 0.78% at 7,174.14 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.98% to 3,770.21 points.
Italy's stock market closed 1.18% higher after dropping nearly 4% earlier in the day as parliament leaders proposed to adopt austerity budget measures by the end of the week.
The FTSE Mib index on the Milan stock exchange ended at 18,510.53 points.
Financial stocks, which were severely hit in sharp plunges on Friday and yesterday, led the rebound with shares in Banca Popolare di Milano up 7.74%, UniCredit gaining 5.89% and Ubi Banca advancing 5.63%.
In Dublin, the ISEQ index was down, dropping 13 points (0.5%) to 2,885.
The euro has also recovered, having fallen to a four-month low of $1.3840 earlier this morning.
But borrowing costs for Italy and Spain rose again, with the gap between the interest rates on their bonds compared with Germany's reaching a record high this morning before falling back this afternoon. There were rumours this afternoon that the European Central Bank was in the market buying government bonds.
Italy said it issued €6.75 billion in one-year bonds this morning at a rate of 3.67%, compared with 2.147% last month.
