Markets retaliate after shaky day in Asia

(CNN) -- Stocks attempted a fight back Friday after a poor day in Asia which saw the Nikkei declining even after the Bank of Japan cut rates for the first time in seven years.

Major European markets closed between 1 and 3 percent higher while the major U.S. markets closed up between 1 and 2 percent.

It was the second successive day of gains for the Dow Jones Industrial average but it still finished the month about 14 percent down on the end of September.

Stocks in the major Asian and Pacific markets returned mixed results Friday.

Tokyo's Nikkei fell more than 5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.5 percent.

Major indices trading in positive territory included the All Ordinaries in Australia, which was up 0.6 percent and Seoul's KOSPI index had increased 2.6 percent.

The trading in the Asian and Pacific markets followed a rally Thursday in the United States.

Investors cheered news of record earnings by Exxon Mobil, easier credit and a report showing the economy shrank at a slower pace than expected in the third quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 190 points, or 2.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.5 percent.

The 0.3 percent decline of the gross domestic product wasn't quite as bad as forecasts. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had estimated GDP would plunge 0.5 percent.

But the fall was the weakest performance for the economy since the last recession seven years ago.

That compared with a 2.8 percent growth rate in the second quarter when economic stimulus checks and strong exports spurred by a weak dollar resulted in solid growth that vanished in the latest reading.

The latest reading was yet another warning sign of a recession and marked only the fifth quarter in more than 17 years in which GDP fell below zero. Much of the impact of the recent crisis in financial and credit markets was not reflected in this reading, which reflects the period ending September 30.

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