Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 ended up 1.66 percent at 1,301.17 points, still leaving it down nearly 14 percent so far this year. Banks and commodity stocks were the top-weighted gainers. HSBC rose 2.5 percent, HBOS 5.7 percent, Societe Generale 3.3 percent and BNP Paribas 2.5 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index nudged down 0.1 percent, or 3.7 points, to 5,376.6, after falling a total of 6.7 percent in the previous four sessions.
The All Gold index closed at 2,645.31 points, down 23.93 or 0.90 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 18,938.47 points, down 237.62 or 1.24 percent.