Overnight gains in New York lifted sentiment across much of Asia

The German and French exchanges rose, with London's main index reversing earlier losses to finish ahead.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones and Nasdaq were stable but both closed lower after struggling for direction.

The global shares slide was triggered last Tuesday by a slump in Chinese stocks, although broader fears about the US economy added to the sell-off.

Investors dumped stocks amid concerns that they were overvalued and that US economic growth could slow.

"Although a lot of people, such as policy makers, keep saying the US economy is fine, investors remain worried," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.

"The scenario that the US economy would see a soft landing has been somewhat destroyed."

The FTSE 100 put on 18 points to close at 6156.5.

The Dow Jones ended 15.14 points, or 0.12% lower at 12,192.45 while the Nasdaq slipped 0.44% to 2,374.64.

Earlier China's Shanghai Composite index closed up 1.9%, but Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.5% as investor sentiment remained nervous.