European stocks rose as investors spotted bargains after a day of sharp losses and as Asian equities slipped into bear-market territory.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher opening, with Dow futures up 45 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 11,807 and S&P 500 futures up 5.2 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 1,211.50.
Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6 per cent, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5 per cent, and Germany's DAX gained 0.9 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei lost 1.7 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.8 per cent. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index is down 20 per cent for 2011 -- the rule-of-thumb definition of a bear market, while the Nikkei is down 18 per cent. The FTSE Asia-Pacific index has lost 20.8 per cent since hitting its high for the year in May.
Stocks declined after a key Bank of Japan survey for the three months to December showed a sharper-than-forecast deterioration in business sentiment of larger manufacturers and a separate survey showed China's manufacturing output shrank again in December as new orders fell.
The Swiss franc gained against the euro, while another haven, gold, steadied amid nervousness over the euro zone debt crisis.
Gold, which fell 3.5 per cent on Wednesday, traded $1.90 higher at $1,588.80 (U.S.) an ounce.
European investors appeared to be reassured by a successful Spanish debt auction. Spain sold more than 6-billion euros of bonds, well above the top end of the 2.5-3.5-billion euro range announced before the sale. The 10-year Spanish benchmark yield fell to a session low of 5.59 per cent, down 15 basis points on the day after the sale.
Markit's euro zone composite purchasing managers' index, which measures the activity of thousands of euro zone companies, rose for a second month in December to 47.9 from 47.0, against expectations of a decline to 46.5. But the preliminary reading lingered well below the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction for a fourth month.
The Canadian dollar traded at 96.40 U.S. cents.
U.S. crude oil rose 0.3 per cent to $95.27 a barrel.