World sharemarkets pushed higher, in Asia boosted by an election in Thailand and in Europe by corporate developments.

Most world sharemarkets eased back in light trading with UK and US markets closed for holidays.

July will be remembered as a good month for shares, with most world markets erasing the losses that had taken indexes below levels at the beginning of the year.

On Wall Street, blue-chip stocks overcame an early 120-point decline to finish down by just one point, capping a stellar month of gains and bucking a slowdown in second-quarter economic growth.

Stocks on Wall Street wrapped their best week in nearly 12 months, as optimism about second-quarter corporate profits powered a rebound from the market's worst levels this year.

Other world markets also rose as positive leads from the US prompted buying in commodity-linked and exporter shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 511.55 points, or 5.3%, for the week, its strongest performance since the week ended July 17, 2009.

The gains came after a bruising end to the second quarter, with the Dow falling 10% and the S&P 500 index sliding 12%.

World sharemarkets failed to make much headway as the disappointing US jobs data released last week dented confidence and raised fears of a renewed global economic slowdown.

Although it wasn't as bad as some had feared, the data pointed to a weaker outlook for the world's largest economy and even opened debate about whether more extraordinary measures will be required to get the US economy growing in a sustainable way.

European stocks generally advanced while Asian markets were mixed, with Chinese shares falling sharply.

Markets in the US and the UK are closed for holidays.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.3% to 244.79, led by auto makers and technology-sector firms.

Daimler shares rose 1.7% and software giant SAP climbed 1.5%, as the German DAX added 0.3% to 5964.33.

Spain's Ibex 35 shed 0.7% to 9359.40 after Fitch Ratings cut Spain's sovereign-debt rating to double-A-plus from triple-A on Friday.

In Paris, the CAC-40 edged down 0.2% to 3507.56.