LONDON - Britain's top share index closed modestly higher yesterday, aided by strength from defensive stocks on investor concern over the state of the global economy, and countering falls among banks and miners. The FTSE 100 closed up 9.38 points, or 0.18 percent, at 5,275.44, after rising 20.85 points on Thursday.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares made modest gains for a second straight day, but finished lower for the week as investors continued to worry about the strength of the economic recovery. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 0.3 percent to close at 1,045.65 points, having moved in and out of positive territory during the session.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index closed at 6,110.41 points, down 24.76 or 0.40 percent, down on the week by 149.22 points.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,610.91 points, down 10.16 or 0.28 percent and 105.14 points lower on the week.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,294.34 points, up 14.99 or 0.24 percent but falling 27.02 points over the week.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 20,969.55 points, down 52.64 or 0.25 percent and 597.88 points worse off than the start of the week.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei rose 0.44 percent, drawing support from an apparent halt in the yen's advance against the dollar after Japanese officials stepped up their campaign against the yen's rise with a series of comments. The Nikkei ended up 40.87 points at 9,253.46.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Stocks fell for a fourth straight session as property stocks slid late in the day, pushing the benchmark index to its worst weekly performance since early July. The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.16 percent or 34.14 points at 21,071.57 points.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Stocks bounced 1.33 percent higher after three days of heavy losses, as bargain-hunters stepped in to buy the beaten-down materials sector, but worries lingered about the outlook. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 58.7 points to 4,459.6, but for the week, the index still ended down 106.5, or 2.3 percent, the first negative week after five weeks of gains.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - The rand steadied against the dollar on Friday, giving up earlier gains as investors moved to safer assets while the local stock market ticked up. The All-share index closed at 27,526.23 points, up 59.08 or 0.22 percent, ditching 755.89 points over the week.