(MENAFN- AFP) Stock markets enjoyed a rebound on Wednesday as the technology sector ended a two-day hemorrhage, although analysts said the respite might be temporary.
Oil prices also recovered after their recent rout despite warnings of slower global economic growth.
"The tech sector and auto companies are currently leading the equity advance," said Dean Popplewell at Oanda. "The bleeding seems to have temporarily stopped."
The rebound came a day after stock markets plunged as a beating for the technology sector helped wipe out all of this year's gains on Wall Street's Dow index.
"A broad basket of European shares fell to their lowest level since early 2017 yesterday and while we have seen a bounce ... the markets remain susceptible to further declines going forward," said David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB trading group.
Milan's stock market held onto gains and the euro climbed versus the dollar after the EU, as expected, officially rejected Italy's big-spending budget, clearing the path for unprecedented sanctions and deepening a bitter row with Rome's populist government.
The pound rose against the dollar as British Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels to hammer out the final details of her Brexit plan, buoyed by the fact that hardliners in her Conservative party are struggling to muster support for a leadership challenge.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development meanwhile warned that the world economy has peaked and faces a slowdown driven by international trade tensions and tighter monetary conditions.
- Oil recovers -
In commodities trading, oil recovered slightly from a slump of more than six percent, with traders fretting that Saudi Arabia might not deliver on planned production cuts.
US President Donald Trump's support for Riyadh in the case of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been taken by some observers as a move to keep them from lowering output at the December meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC members.
"At the heart of the matter is the lack of market respect for OPEC rhetoric regarding deep production cuts, (which) have been ignored as the market now questions if the projected reduction would be entirely sufficient to rebalance markets given the expected glut in the first quarter," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.
Adding to the dour mood is the China-US trade war -- which shows no signs of easing just a week before Trump and China's Xi Jinping are due to meet -- as well as US waivers on buying Iranian oil and a slowing global economy.
Crude prices have fallen by almost 30 percent from four-year highs touched at the start of October.
In company news meanwhile, shares in French car giant Renault gained after shedding more than nine percent over two days, triggered by the arrest of chief executive Carlos Ghosn.
Japanese authorities Wednesday extended by 10 days the detention of Ghosn, who is also chairman of Nissan, over allegations of financial misconduct.
- Key figures around 1440 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 7,014.44 points
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.9 percent at 11,167.44
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 4,947.38
Milan - FTSE MIB: UP 0.9 percent at 18,639.52
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,134.68
New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 24,585.44
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 21,507.54 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.5 percent at 25,971.47 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 2,651.51 (close)
Oil - Brent Crude: UP 89 cents at $63.42 per barrel
Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 95 cents at $54.38
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2802 from $1.2787 at 2200 GMT
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1405 from $1.1370
Dollar/yen: UP at 112.99 yen from 112.75 yen
burs-jh/wai
MENAFN2111201801430000ID1097729982
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