European stocks, euro recover after heavy falls

European stocks and the euro rebounded on Wednesday following a day of heavy falls on concern about global economic growth and a bond swap to cut Greek debt and avert default, traders said. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 0.19 percent to 5,776.73 points in mid-morning deals, Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.33 percent to 6,655.19 points and in Paris the CAC 40 grew 0.75 percent to 3,387.59. The DAX and CAC had each shed around 3.5 percent on Tuesday. In foreign exchange trading, the European single currency rose to $1.3141 from $1.3113 late in New York on Tuesday. "Markets are fairly muted this morning as we see some investors coming in to sift through the rubble left from yesterday's perfect storm," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at online brokerage Interactive Investor. "Slowing growth in emerging and established markets and continued fears over Greece continues to have equities balancing on a knife edge." Global share prices slid on Tuesday after China's announcement that it was expecting growth to slow further this year due to a fall in exports caused by slackening demand in the key US and European markets. Markets also took a hit after Brazil said its economy grew by a slower-than-expected 2.7 percent last year compared with 2010, and from signs that the eurozone has fallen into a mild recession. Economic troubles have also started to affect Australia -- which has fared relatively well in the face of continued headwinds -- as Canberra said the mining-driven economy grew slower than expected in October-December. In Europe, investors are hoping enough of private creditors owed money by Greece will sign up for the debt swap -- essentially a 107-billion-euro ($140-billion) writedown of their bonds.  The success of this private debt swap is a key condition for a 130-billion-euro rescue package to save Greece from a debt default and avoid another potential global crisis. The EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told French newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday that the cancellation of a large chunk of Greece's debt should take place "without a hitch." As Greece battles for its eurozone survival the rest of the eurozone is also suffering, with data showing the economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. In company news on Wednesday, German sportswear maker Adidas said that strong demand for its brand pushed it to record earnings in 2011 and it hoped to beat those again this year on the back of the 2012 Olympics, but the group's shares fell on profit-taking. Adidas said in a statement its net profit rose by 18 percent to 671 million euros ($881 million) last year, with earnings per share hitting a record high of 3.20 euros. Adidas shares were down 2.23 percent to 56.45 euros in morning trade.