After a turbulent week, stock markets around the world are bouncing back. In the US, the NASDAQ and Dow Jones closed at over four per cent and 3.95 per cent respectively on Thursday - both helped by the latest figures showing fewer Americans are claiming unemployment benefits.
However, as fluctuations this week have shown, US markets are vulnerable to outside pressures.
In an effort to address such issues, the US President Barack Obama said: "Europe is dealing with all sorts of financial turmoil that is lapping upon our shores. Japan's tragic earthquake hurt economies around the globe, including ours, and cut off supply chains that were very important to us. All of this has further challenged our economy as we have seen played out in our stock market, wild swings up and down."
Confidence from a strong performance on Wall Street has spread to Asia, as markets in both Tokyo and Seoul rallied on Friday morning, also opening with gains.
News that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, helped European markets, as France, Italy, Spain and Belgium banned short-selling on the shares of banks and other financial companies.
SOURCE: Euronews
