LONDON (AP) - Stocks markets rose modestly yesterday as investors hoped European Union officials would come up with a more definitive fix for the region's debt crisis and Britain's finance minister pledged support for Ireland as it struggles to fix its troubled banks.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 10.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,692.56 while Germany's DAX was up 36.83 or 0.5 percent to 6,700.07. The CAC-40 in France rose 29.88, or 0.8 percent, to 3,792.35.

Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are heading for Dublin on Thursday to survey the situation with Ireland's troubled banks, which are at the centre of the country's financial crisis.

Asian stocks mostly fell on expectations China will raise interest rates again to tame inflation.

Speculation that China will take more steps to rein in its red-hot economy after inflation hit a 25-month high in October also kept markets in check. A state media report of a days old speech by Premier Wen Jiabao, the country's top economic official, saying the Cabinet is "drafting measures to suppress sharp rises of commodity prices" added to those expectations.

China's government said later in the day, after trading closed, that it will give poor families subsidies to help pay for food following a spike in prices.

The announcement comes after politically sensitive food prices jumped 10.1 percent in October, raising the threat of social tensions. The government also promised efforts to increase supplies of grain, vegetables and diesel fuel but stopped short of ordering direct price controls.

China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.9 percent to 2,838.86 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dived two percent to 23,214.46.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average bucked the trend, gaining 0.2 percent to 9,811.66 as the dollar rose against the yen, boosting exporters.

Australia's ASX/S&P 200 dropped 1.6 percent to 4,624.3 and South Korea's Kospi fell l 0.1 percent to 1,897.11.

Elsewhere, markets in Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand fell. Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for holidays.

In currencies, the yen rose 0.1 percent to 83.21. The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.3535.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 72 cents at $81.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell $2.52, or three percent, to settle at $82.34 on Tuesday.