LONDON - Britain's top share index recovered to close above 5,000 points, led by miners after reports the Australian government may relax punitive tax measures, while Burberry jumped after strong earnings. The FTSE 100 ended up 97.40 points or 1.97 percent at 5,038.08, having tumbled 128.93 points on Tuesday to its lowest close since September.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares almost recovered the previous session's losses, in a broad market rebound with miners notching up strong gains. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 2.4 percent to close at 972.17 points, after falling 2.4 percent in the previous session to its lowest close since September.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROpean markets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,758.02 points, up 87.98 or 1.55 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,408.59 points, up 77.3 or 2.32 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,167.53 points, up 75.98 or 1.25 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 19,382.65 points, up 417.69 or 2.20 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - The Nikkei average rose 0.66 percent a day after tumbling to a six-month low, but gains were kept in check with fears about the euro zone's debt crisis and banking system leaving the euro weak and financial markets on edge. The benchmark Nikkei ended up 62.77 points at 9,522.66 after climbing as much as 1.7 percent to 9,622.40.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Stocks rose 1.11 percent, following Tuesday's sharp sell-off, on bargain-hunting but continued risk aversion hindered broad-based buying. The Hang Seng index rose 210.95 points to 19,196.45.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Stocks rose 0.98 percent as investors cherry picked battered shares but the market closed well off its intraday high as edgy investors were still sniffing for bad news. The S&P/ASX 200 index which has fallen around 11.5 percent this year, rose 41.9 points to 4,307.2.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's assets rallied, tracking global equities after upbeat U.S. data encouraged investors to take more risk. The All-share index closed at 27,047.51 points, up 867.67 or 3.31 percent.