Stock markets in London and Paris fell this evening but managed to trim their losses late in the day while in Frankfurt a surge in Volkswagen shares helped the DAX end the day in positive territory.
The London FTSE index, which earlier in the day had plunged more than 5%, escaped with a loss of just 0.79% at 3,853. The Paris CAC came back from a decline of more than 6% to close down 3.96% at 3,067.
In Frankfurt, the DAX gained 0.91% to close at 4,334, powered by a jump of more than 150% in VW shares that came after Porsche said it had increased its stake in the biggest European car maker.
Dublin's ISEQ index ended the day with a 3% loss, recovering slightly from losses of 5% earlier in the day. The banks had a day of contrasting fortunes with shares in AIB slipping just 0.3% to end at €3.15, while Irish Life and Permanent tumbled almost 30% to €1.52. Anglo Irish Bank slumped 23.5% to close at €1.41 while Bank of Ireland dropped 13.7% to end at €1.38.
US stocks advanced on Wall Street this evening in volatile trading as phone company Verizon Communications' solid profit helped the blue chips. The Dow Jones climbed 150 points (1.8%) to stand at 8,529 while the Nasdaq added 14 points (1.2%) to 1,217.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei index plunged 6.36% to close at 7,163 - its lowest level since October 1982, on fears that emergency steps by world governments will be too late to prevent a worldwide recession. Meanwhile Hong Kong shares closed 12.7% down in their biggest single-day drop since 1991, as investors dumped stocks.
