World stock markets rebound after falls

Global stock markets bounced back on Wednesday after heavy losses the day before, with Asia leading the recovery.

Shares had fallen on Tuesday on worries about continued weakness in the euro economy, and Korean tensions.

Wall Street gave a further boost to values, with the Dow Jones index up 0.71% as European markets closed.

In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 index finished up 1.97%, Germany's Dax index was 1.55% higher, while France's Cac 40 index ended with a rise of 3.22%.

Shares had risen earlier in Asia. In Japan the Nikkei index rose 0.7%, South Korea's Kospi index added 1.4% and Australia's main index climbed 1%.

Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Taiwan also closed higher.

"After yesterday's dramatic falls, a semblance of calm has returned," said ODL Securities analyst Owen Ireland in London.

"One cannot hide the fact though that there is an underlying fragility to markets - whilst the rallies are smaller than the falls, there may be a reluctance to pile monies into the markets."

Oil rallied too, with a 2% gain taking the price of US crude to above $70 a barrel.

However, the euro slipped against the US dollar to $1.221 from $1.237. The pound was up 0.13% at 1.178 euros.