European stocks bounced off their earlier lows today as utilities and miners gained, offsetting some losses in bank stocks that were sparked by UBS' shotgun deal to buy Credit Suisse for a fraction of its market value.
Shares of Credit Suisse had slumped as much as 60% to a fresh record low of 0.73 francs after rival UBS Group said it will pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for the 167-year-old bank and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses.
They were down 56% in Swiss trade this afternoon, while shares of UBS were up over 1%.
Shares in London were up 0.9%, while the market in Paris rose by 1.3% and the German markets had gained 1.1% this afternoon.
The Dublin market also reversed its earlier losses to stand 2% higher this afternoon.
The banking shares also managed to reverse their earlier losses with AIB jumping 6%, while Bank of Ireland had gained 3.5% and Permanent TSB was up 2.5%.
Earlier in Asian trade, Hong Kong stocks closed sharply lower as banks were hammered by worries over the sector. The Hang Seng Index sank 2.65%, while shares in Tokyo lost 1.4%.
Meanwhile, Wall Street's main indexes opened mixed today as investors digested that state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse and the odds of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged this week.
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The CEO of Sommerville Advisory Markets says the deal to rescue Credit Suisse is a significant one.
Paul Sommerville said this "shotgun wedding" deal is the "best, worst option".
He said the deal is a complex one and is confusing the market somewhat, which is why bank shares are falling today.
Mr Sommerville said Credit Suisse's problems have been well flagged for some time.
However it is important to differentiate between this situation and the situation in the US, he said.
"What's currently what's going on in America is slightly different. Because you're talking about Silicon Valley Bank - it's just a really recklessly run bank, really poor," he said,
He also told Morning Ireland that this situation is "absolutely nothing" to do with 2008.
There is no need to worry about desposits in Irish banks, he said, but shares might suffer.
