Unemployment soared to more than 10 percent in once-booming Ireland, France warned its public deficit will rise to a record level in 2009 and Australia reported its first quarterly economic contraction in eight years.

"Although the Australian economy has held up better than most other economies, the inevitable impact of the global recession is clearly evident in today's data," said Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan.

The announcement marked a sharp turnaround from Tuesday, when Australia's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 3.25 percent saying the economy was riding out the crisis better than most.

In Ireland, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would present a new emergency budget next month and warned austerity measures were needed "however difficult they may be" despite mass protests over the crisis in February.

And there was more turmoil in eastern European states, where six countries lashed out against what they said had been negative comment from credit rating agencies, analysts and international bodies that they insisted put local economies at "high risk."

In Brussels, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the European Union would help out any member state facing financial collapse and a new survey showed service sector activity in the eurozone hitting record lows.

Chinese state media meanwhile reported that a high-level business delegation will visit Europe this weekend to look for companies to buy up after a visit last month netted more than 13 billion dollars (10.4 billion euros) in deals.

"We will be exploring opportunities for financial participation in European companies," said Commerce Minister Chen Deming, who headed the just-returned mission to Europe charged with buying high-technology equipment.

For Western companies however Wednesday brought more dismal results.

French bank Credit Agricole, France Telecom, temporary work agency Adecco and Swiss cement maker Holcim saw profits badly hit in 2008, while British broadcaster ITV had a net loss of 3.59 billion dollars (2.87 billion euros).

German sports equipment and clothing maker Adidas posted a profit rise of 16 percent in 2008 but warned that business would be tougher this year.

"We cannot ignore the unprecedented economic crisis all global businesses are facing today," Adidas chairman and chief executive Herbert Hainer said.

There was positive movement on the markets however, with London's FTSE 100 index rising 2.27 percent in the late afternoon, while the CAC 40 in Paris soared 3.02 percent and the Frankfurt DAX shot up 3.15 percent.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.60 percent and the Nasdaq index climbed 1.67 percent in morning trades while Asian markets closed sharply up as investors hunted for bargains following a sell-off.

"An underlying sense that the market is oversold and due for a bounce of some sort has mitigated some of the bearish bias at this time," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com, an independent market analysis company.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 0.85 percent, Singapore rose 1.04 percent, Hong Kong closed up 2.50 percent and Shanghai skyrocketed 6.12 percent on hopes that China will spell out more economic rescue measures this week.

Stock market buoyancy was in sharp contrast to the relentless flow of bad news from countries trying to battle the crisis with ambitious stimulus programmes that are having varying degrees of success.

Australia said its economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the last quarter of 2008 as a boom in raw materials exports to China screeches to a halt despite two stimulus packages worth more than 32.5 billion US dollars (25.9 billion euros).

Meanwhile France said its public deficit was expected to soar this year to 5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), breaching the EU stability pact's three-percent limit, due to extra stimulus spending and tax revenues.

Japan's parliament passed a controversial plan to hand 20 billion dollars (16 billion euros) back to the public to fight the recession as carmakers Honda, Nissan and Mazda said they might seek crisis loans from the government.

Oil prices meanwhile climbed on hopes of strengthening demand in China, which is the world's second biggest energy consumer after the United States.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April gained 91 cents to 44.61 dollars a barrel in London trade.

burs/dt/nh

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