In the US, employers cut a higher-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October, which drove the unemployment rate to 10.2%, its highest level in just over 26 years.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve expressed growing confidence that an economic recovery was growing, although it maintained its commitment to keep borrowing costs near zero for an "extended period". The Fed said the economy had "continued to pick up" since its last meeting in September but expressed concern that the recovery was likely to be muted.

The ISM manufacturing index was stronger than expected, with the increase reaching 55.7 for October from 52.6 in September. By contrast, the services sector index edged slightly lower to 50.6 from 50.9 the previous month.

In the Eurozone, retail sales data was weaker than expected with a further 0.7% fall in September. The annual drop is now 3.6%, maintaining fears over the outlook for consumer spending.

The ECB gave no policy surprises as it left interest rates on hold at 1% following its latest council meeting. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet maintained a tone of cautious optimism, repeating that he expected a very slow economic recovery while drawing attention to falling money supply and private loans.

In the UK, the Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector was significantly stronger than expected at a two-year high of 53.7 from the previous month's revised figure of 49.9.

Meanwhile, the BoE said it would expand its quantitative easing programme by £25 billion to help support the economy. The increase would bring the total asset-buying scheme to £200bn, equivalent to over 14% of UK economic output.

The BoE also left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, as expected.

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