European shares rose in early trade today on hopes that the United States would cut rates to head off a recession.
The Irish Iseq rose 56 points to 6698.34 or by 0.85 per cent shortly after opening. The main banks were all fractionally up following yesterday's sharp falls on the back of a report from UBS downgrading Irish banks.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 per cent at 1,326.44 points.
Banks were generally higher, with fraud-hit French lender Société Générale recovering 2.6 per cent, HSBC gaining 0.7 per cent and UBS 1.3 per cent.
But with the Fed expected to announce a further cut in rates tomorrow, the focus was on the US central bank after a torrid month for equities.
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 3 per cent today, with bank shares riding a wave of short-covering on chances of a US rate cut.