Markets stabilise

Markets ended the week on a somewhat more stable note. Bloomberg reports Friday's market action:

U.S. stocks rose, trimming the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s worst weekly loss since 2008, European equities rebounded and Treasuries fell amid signs policy makers will act to prevent the debt crisis from worsening. Silver plunged the most since at least 1979.

The Dow added 0.4 percent to 10,771.48 at 4 p.m. New York time, paring this week’s loss to 6.4 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.6 percent to 1,136.43 after losing 7.1 percent in the first four days of the week. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6 percent. Ten-year Treasury yields surged 11 basis points to 1.82 percent after touching a record low 1.67 percent. Silver sank 18 percent and gold slid 5.9 percent, giving futures the biggest two-day loss since 1983.

However, the damage suffered by markets over the past two months has already hurt confidence around the world. On Friday, France became the latest to report a fall in confidence, with Insee reporting that its business confidence index fell to 99 in September from 105 in July while its household confidence index dropped to 80 in September from 82 in August.