A resolute start to share dealing on Wall Street rescued European bourses after a further day of volatile trading. From the market's opening, it was obvious that US dealers intended to mark shares higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial index gaining 114 points or 1.5 per cent in the first 15 minutes of trade. Last night after another volatile session it closed at 7,442.07, up 60.41.

The early Dow rally meant that European stock markets, which had edged higher in the early afternoon session in anticipation of a rise in New York, finally found something to cling to and looked set to end a week of market mayhem on a high note.

Behind the rally lay strong US GDP data, released before the start of New York trading, and hopes of a renewed calm in south-east Asian financial markets.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of national economic activity, grew at an annualised rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter - higher than Wall Street economists' forecasts of a 3.2 per cent rate and compared with 3.3 per cent in the second quarter.

After the initial spurt, the rally ran out of steam and the Dow fell back to stand around 0.75 per cent higher, but the lack of a wholesale collapse indicated that London, Paris and Frankfurt would not go into the free-fall feared by some.

London's FTSE 100 blue-chip index steadied at around 1 per cent higher on the day after falling, rising, falling and rising again in apparently pointless mood swings.

The French and German key indices were also nearly one percentage point higher after sharp fluctuations above and below zero during the morning.

In Dublin, the ISEQ closed about half a per cent higher and, after all the volatility of the week, the index is down just 1.3 per cent on the previous week's close.