European markets steady after Chinese shares rise

Chinese shares have risen and European markets have opened slightly higher at the end of what has been a torrid first week of the year.

It was a week in which trading in China's markets was twice halted by a circuit breaker, before the authorities decided to suspend the measure.

The Shanghai Composite closed 2% higher on Friday, but still ended the week down by about 10%.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 21.5 points, or 0.36%, at 5,975.5.

In Frankfurt, the Dax was up 0.33%, while the Cac 40 in Paris was barely changed.

On Thursday, markets in Europe and the US recorded steep losses after trading in China's stock markets closed within the first 30 minutes.

Trading in China was volatile again on Friday, the first day since the suspension of the circuit breaker.

The Chinese central bank also took steps to strengthen the yuan after the currency's weakness was taken as a sign of problems for the economy.

Market attention now turns to the US unemployment figures, which are due out later on Friday.

"It takes quite something to relegate the US employment report to a footnote in this week's trading activity, but the China induced volatility seen over the past few days appears to have done the trick," said Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.

"As we come to the end of the week European equity markets look on course to post some of the worst weekly losses since the previous China induced volatility, seen last August."

What are China's 'circuit-breakers'?

The measures were announced in December after a summer of dramatic market losses - used for the first time time on Monday and again on Thursday.

They automatically stop trading in stock markets that drop or appreciate too sharply - a 15-minute break if the CSI 300 Index moves 5% from the market's previous close, or a whole-day halt if it moves 7% or more.

Instead of calming investors, they fuelled selling pressure and were then suspended by authorities.