European stock indexes end up

European share indexes staged a late turnaround to close yesterday's session higher, shrugging off the negative lead from heavyweight mining stocks as oil producers gained and US data helped calm interest rate worries. Deutsche Boerse jumped as investors bet it stood a better chance of snaring Euronext after NYSE said it did not plan to change its bid terms, while Greece's National Bank dropped after a rights issue approval.

"We hope there will an upside movement in eurostocks but it will be a very low, more technical move," said Guillaume Duchesne, equity strategist at Fortis Private Banking. "The trend is quite negative in Europe."

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 0.3 per cent stronger at 1,311.13 points, having dropped as low as 1,295.08 as global markets remained volatile.

The index shed five per cent last month, its biggest monthly loss since January 2003, with investors pulling out of stocks on worries over inflation, rising global interest rates and a potential economic slowdown.

"Equity markets may have lost the cushion of low bond yields, and the markets are likely to remain nervous until the outlook for both inflation and growth looks a little more certain," said Haydn Davies, chief economist at Barclays Global Investors.