LONDON (AP) - A strong batch of corporate earnings in Europe shored up stock markets yesterday despite mounting concerns that Ireland will have to be bailed out by its partners in the eurozone to stave off a default. US shares were also poised to open modestly higher a day after a six-session winning streak came to an end.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 37.99 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,887.95 while Germany's DAX rose 45.99 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,796.49. The CAC-40 in France was 27.24 points, or 0.7 percent, higher at 3,940.94.

Wall Street was also poised for modest gains at the open - Dow futures were up 17 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11,379 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures were up just less than two points at 1,221.8.

The solid performance in Europe came after Vodafone reported a three percent rise in half-year operating profits to £6.1 billion and raised its guidance for full-year profits following higher than expected revenue growth. Its shares, a major constituent of the FTSE 100 index, were trading over one percent higher.

Switzerland's Adecco saw its share price rise over three percent in Zurich after it reported a bigger than anticipated 42 rise in third-quarter profits. French luxury goods maker Hermes SA also impressed - its share price was up over three percent, too - after it raised its full-year revenue forecasts following a third-quarter rebound.

The growing worry in the markets is that Ireland's government may not be able to pass another bout of austerity measures on December 7, and that as a result it will have to seek financial assistance from its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund, as Greece had to earlier this year. That conclusion is clear from what's going on in bond markets with the spread between Irish and German 10-year yields seemingly rising to record highs on a daily basis.

Earlier, Asia's markets were pretty leaden.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 38.43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 9,694.49 with exporters pressured by the dollar's renewed fall against the yen. By mid afternoon London time the dollar was 0.7 percent lower at 80.62 yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1 percent to 24,710.6 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8 percent to 4,740.7. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent to end at 3,135. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller, second exchange edged 0.3 percent higher to 1,380.59.

Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 27 cents at $87.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract settled up 21 cents at $87.06 on Monday.