Most European stock markets rose this evening, led by energy and mining stocks as commodity prices moved higher. Bank shares also strengthened on the back of news that top US banks have been cleared to repay state aid.
In London, the FTSE closed up 32 points (0.7%) at 4,437. Frankfurt's DAX jumped 1% to 5,051 and in Paris the CAC rose 0.6% to 3,315.
In Dublin, the ISEQ closed up 34 points (1.2%) at 2,930. Irish Life & Permanent jumped 26 cent to €3.96. Building materials groups also performed well, with CRH up 40 cent to €17.80 and Kingspan rising 26 cent to €5.02.
Wall Street struggled to hold early gains as investors worried that rising oil prices, though a sign of recovery, could also hold back an economic rebound. The Dow Jones was 22 points lower at 8,741 while the Nasdaq was down 19 at 1,841.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei raced 2% higher to close at 9,991 - up 205 points - on continued hopes for economic recovery. The Hang Seng jumped 727 points to 18,786.
