World sharemarkets rebound – again

Stocks rebounded on Wall Street and around the world as investors seized on favourable corporate and economic reports to grab back some of the ground they lost in the recent stock-market swoon.

Bullish investors gained the upper hand in some Asian markets as bargain buyers acted on attractive valuations. Europe followed with banking shares recouping some of the previous session's heavy losses.

Gold slumped from its high of around $US1800 an ounce and oil rose slightly.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 423.37 points, or 4.0%, to 11,143.31 at the close (8am NZ time).

The Dow slumped 520 points on Wednesday, the ninth-largest point drop in history, amid mounting worries about the health of Europe's banks and the chances of a global economic recession.

The S&P 500 index jumped 4.6%, to 1172.64, led by battered financial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite has surged 4.7%, to 2492.68.

Weekly jobless-claims data released before the open showed a slight drop in the number of people claiming new jobless benefits in the US.

Cisco Systems also helped set the positive tone, surging 17% after posting better-than-expected revenues.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stock markets ended a choppy session with strong gains by banking shares.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 3.2% at 230.57, but the trading session was marked by sharp ups and downs, with the index at one point sinking as low as 218.91.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index gained 3.1% to 5162.83, as Barclays rallied 8.6%.

The German DAX 30 index rose 3.3% to 5797.66, buoyed by gains for ThyssenKrupp, which rose 8.1% after Salzgitter's strong results and ahead of its own fiscal third-quarter numbers on Friday.

In France, the CAC 40 index advanced 2.9% to 3089.66.
Chinese and Korean shares advanced as most Asian markets came off earlier lows. The Shanghai Composite Index finished 1.3% higher at 2581.51 and Korea's Kospi added 0.6% to 1817.44.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1% to 19,595.14 and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.6% to 8981.94. Taiwan's Taiex declined 0.2% to 7719.09.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index ended little changed at 4140.8.

Commodities: Oil rises, gold tumbles from high
Oil futures turned positive after stocks opened higher in the U.S., boosting confidence that the rout that has battered global markets is ending.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery was up 23USc, or 0.3%, to $US83.12 a barrel in New York. The contract hit a low of $US81.03 earlier in the session.

Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe was up 32USc, or 0.3%, to $US107 a barrel.

Gold prices tumbled. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, was down $US43.50, or 2.4%, at $US1,740.70 an ounce in New York.

Thinly traded August-delivery gold was down $US24.40, or 1.4%, at $US1756.90 after reaching $US1813.50 in early trade.

Currencies: Swiss franc plunges
Rampant speculation that Switzerland would resort to dramatic measures to weaken its currency sent the franc plunging more than 4% against the euro and dollar.

Traders speculated that Switzerland could take the most unlikely and drastic move of all: pegging its currency to the euro,

The US dollar fetched around 0.7561 franc, up sharply from Wednesday's close at 0.7266 franc. The euro, which has lost as much as 15% in the past few weeks alone against the franc, traded around 1.0734 francs, up from 1.0305 francs.

The euro was at $US1.4213 compared with $US1.4177 late on Wednesday. The dollar was at ¥76.63 from ¥76.87, while the euro was at ¥108.91 from ¥108.95.

The UK pound was at $US1.6211 from $US1.6134.