Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Tuesday.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index closed up 3.5 percent at 1,241.99 points but this was not enough to recoup all the previous day's 4.4-percent loss. The index is down nearly 18 percent this year.
The rebound was led by recently battered banking shares with UBS - a major victim of the credit crunch - jumping more than 14 percent, Credit Suisse gaining 10.4 percent and HBSC rising more than 7 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index inched down 0.9 point to 5,086.1, after falling 2.3 percent to its lowest closing level since September 2006 on Monday.
The All-share index closed at 30,044.07 points, up 116 or 0.39 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,711.28 points, down 95.3 or 3.40 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 19,376.22 points, up 268.78 or 1.41 percent.