LONDON - Britain's top share index gained 1.25 percent boosted by strength in oil majors and banks, and reflecting early gains on Wall Street. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 53.02 points higher at 4,294.03, recovering most of last week's 104.92 point decline.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST
EUROPE - European shares closed higher, with financials given a boost by broker upgrades and rising crude prices lifting energy stocks. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 1.8 percent at 859.63 points after falling nearly two percent last week.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets
FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 4,885.09 points, up 108.62 or 2.27 percent.
PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,193.68 points, up 63.95 or 2.04 percent.
ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 5,443.45 points, up 67.46 or 1.25 percent.
MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 19,820.97 points, up 259.97 or 1.33 percent.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei
TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.95 percent, erasing earlier gains, as trading firms such as Mitsubishi Corp. slid on lower oil prices and Daiwa Securities tumbled on a share sale announcement. The benchmark Nikkei shed 93.92 points to 9,783.47, erasing morning gains.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng
HONG KONG - Shares dropped 0.39 percent, deflating a three-session rally as lower energy prices weighed on resources-linked counters, while turnover dropped to a three-month low as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the expiration of index futures. The Hang Seng Index finished down 71.75 points at 18,528.51 after slipping in and out of positive territory.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx
SYDNEY - Shares edged lower as investors took profits in stocks such as global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, which have rallied recently on hopes for a global economic recovery.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.43 percent or 16.9 points to 3,886.9 points.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa
JOHANNESBURG - Blue-chips stocks edged lower, dragged lower by miners which were hit by lower commodity prices and retailers which fell in response to a competition commission investigation.
The All-share index closed at 22,304.23 points, down 4.05 or 0.02 percent.
The All Gold index closed at 2,404.31 points, down 39.12 or 1.6 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 17,315.04 points, down 71.21 or 0.41 percent.
