The French Cac 40, the Spanish Ibex and the German Dax, which all also opened lower, were up by 0.8%, 1% and 1.2% respectively. The FTSE 100 share index, which had fallen by almost 1.5% in early trading, reversed course to gain 0.4%, before paring back again to close down 0.2%. US markets were up more than 1% in early afternoon trading on Wall Street.