European stocks stabilised and Wall Street rebounded following a rout in global stocks triggered by weak US data and worries about emerging markets.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.25 percent at 6,449.27 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.64 percent to 9,127.91 points, but the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.24 percent to 4,117.45 points.
Milan jumped 0.60 percent and Milan added 0.30 percent.
The euro and the dollar both hit two-month lows against the Japanese yen -- considered a haven during uncertainty -- before staging a modest rebound.
The European single currency fell as low as 136.23 yen and the dollar slid to 100.76 yen in earlier Asian deals.
The euro meanwhile dipped to $1.3500 from $1.3529 on Monday.
"We've seen a predominantly weaker session in Europe today, not altogether surprising given yesterday's heavy sell-off in US markets," said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.
"But we have managed to close well off the lows of the day even venturing into positive territory at one point, as some buying interest returned to the market after several days of losses," he added.
Asian markets slumped on Tuesday -- led by a four-percent fall in Tokyo -- following a huge sell-off on Wall Street overnight as disappointing Chinese and US manufacturing data rocked sentiment.
Traders were also spooked by a warning from Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who said that the US borrowing limit will be reached on Friday, renewing fears of a Washington stand-off and possible default.
Japanese stocks noses dived 4.18 percent, with the headline index shedding 14 percent in a month after a huge rally last year, as the market enters what many analysts have called a correction phase.
Tokyo's Nikkei-225 index dived 610.66 points to 14,008.47, the worst one-day drop since June.
The market in Seoul sank 1.73 percent and Hong Kong plunged 2.89 percent, with Chinese tech giant Lenovo diving 16.40 percent on fears it may have bitten off more than it can chew with the recent purchase of struggling Motorola from Google for $2.91 billion.
Shanghai and Taipei were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wall Street had posted losses of over 2.0 percent on Monday after a surprisingly weak US manufacturing report sparked concerns about the strength of the world's number one economy.
Over the weekend, meanwhile, China released official figures showing its PMI fell to 50.5 in January from 51 in December and HSBC last week said its PMI for the country came in at a six-month low of 49.5.
Emerging markets have also been shaken by the prospect of capital flight as the US central bank pulls back on its stimulus programme, which has been widely credited with fuelling an equities rally last year.
But analysts at Capital Economics said "our sense is that the worst of the fears are overdone and that equities will recover over the remainder of the year."
Wall Street rebounds
Wall Street rebounded as Microsoft made a long-awaited announcement on a new chief executive and a handful of corporate results bested expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.46 percent to 15,443.57 points, the broad-based S&P 500 picked up 0.76 percent to 1,754.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.94 percent to 4,034.70 in midday trading.
Gold slid to $1,250.25 an ounce from $1,262 an ounce on Monday on the London Bullion Market.
BP shares ended the day up 0.2 percent to 473.28 pence after reporting net profit more than doubled, although the share had spent most of the day down as investors were disappointed with falling fourth-quarter and operating profits.
Shares in Microsoft rose 0.4 percent to $36.62 after the company said that founder Bill Gates was stepping down as chairman to become a technology adviser and Satya Nadella, head of its cloud-computing division, would succeed Steve Ballmer as chief executive.
European stocks stabilised and Wall Street rebounded following a rout in global stocks triggered by weak US data and worries about emerging markets.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.25 percent at 6,449.27 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 dropped 0.64 percent to 9,127.91 points, but the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.24 percent to 4,117.45 points.
Milan jumped 0.60 percent and Milan added 0.30 percent.
The euro and the dollar both hit two-month lows against the Japanese yen — considered a haven during uncertainty — before staging a modest rebound.
The European single currency fell as low as 136.23 yen and the dollar slid to 100.76 yen in earlier Asian deals.
The euro meanwhile dipped to $1.3500 from $1.3529 on Monday.
“We’ve seen a predominantly weaker session in Europe today, not altogether surprising given yesterday’s heavy sell-off in US markets,” said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.
“But we have managed to close well off the lows of the day even venturing into positive territory at one point, as some buying interest returned to the market after several days of losses,” he added.
Asian markets slumped on Tuesday — led by a four-percent fall in Tokyo — following a huge sell-off on Wall Street overnight as disappointing Chinese and US manufacturing data rocked sentiment.
Traders were also spooked by a warning from Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who said that the US borrowing limit will be reached on Friday, renewing fears of a Washington stand-off and possible default.
Japanese stocks noses dived 4.18 percent, with the headline index shedding 14 percent in a month after a huge rally last year, as the market enters what many analysts have called a correction phase.
Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 index dived 610.66 points to 14,008.47, the worst one-day drop since June.
The market in Seoul sank 1.73 percent and Hong Kong plunged 2.89 percent, with Chinese tech giant Lenovo diving 16.40 percent on fears it may have bitten off more than it can chew with the recent purchase of struggling Motorola from Google for $2.91 billion.
Shanghai and Taipei were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wall Street had posted losses of over 2.0 percent on Monday after a surprisingly weak US manufacturing report sparked concerns about the strength of the world’s number one economy.
Over the weekend, meanwhile, China released official figures showing its PMI fell to 50.5 in January from 51 in December and HSBC last week said its PMI for the country came in at a six-month low of 49.5.
Emerging markets have also been shaken by the prospect of capital flight as the US central bank pulls back on its stimulus programme, which has been widely credited with fuelling an equities rally last year.
But analysts at Capital Economics said “our sense is that the worst of the fears are overdone and that equities will recover over the remainder of the year.”
Wall Street rebounds
Wall Street rebounded as Microsoft made a long-awaited announcement on a new chief executive and a handful of corporate results bested expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.46 percent to 15,443.57 points, the broad-based S&P 500 picked up 0.76 percent to 1,754.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.94 percent to 4,034.70 in midday trading.
Gold slid to $1,250.25 an ounce from $1,262 an ounce on Monday on the London Bullion Market.
BP shares ended the day up 0.2 percent to 473.28 pence after reporting net profit more than doubled, although the share had spent most of the day down as investors were disappointed with falling fourth-quarter and operating profits.
Shares in Microsoft rose 0.4 percent to $36.62 after the company said that founder Bill Gates was stepping down as chairman to become a technology adviser and Satya Nadella, head of its cloud-computing division, would succeed Steve Ballmer as chief executive.
