European stocks markets reduced earlier heavy losses today as Wall Street wobbled in and out of negative terrority.
After earlier hitting five-year lows, the London FT 100 closed almost 1% lower.
The Paris CAC was down 4% but the Frankfurt DAX edged 1% higher as shares in Volkswagen soared nearly 200% after Porsche said it had increased its stake in the German car maker.
In Dublin, the ISEQ was showing losses of 2.8% in late trade.
After recording a drop of 40% earlier, Irish Life and Permanent was down 31%, while Anglo Irish bank had lost 24%.
Earlier, Tokyo shares closed at a 26-year low as Japan announced new measures to support its crumbling stock market.
In a separate development, the G7 group of industrialised nations has expressed concern about the excessive volatility of the Japanese currency.
Elsewhere, Hungary and Ukraine have become the latest countries to be offered assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
Ukraine is due to receive loans of €13bn.
Last night the IMF said it had reached broad agreement on a rescue package for Hungary.
