German backing for ECB action lifts world stocks

Merkel said declarations by ECB President Mario Draghi, who outlined conditional plans at the start of the month to buy bonds of troubled euro zone governments, were "completely in line" with the approach taken by European leaders and urged the bloc to now act swiftly to tackle its woes.

Hopes the bloc may finally be getting a grip on its problems lifted top European shares 0.14 percent in early trading.

The main indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt were all in positive territory, helping the MSCI index of global shares to extend an 11.5 percent gain that started back in June.

The euro was buoyant at $1.2364, not far from Thursday's high of $1.2373. The single currency also hit a six-month high versus the yen.

Demand for German government bonds continued to subside. Bund futures fell 20 ticks on the day to 141.58. They have come off more than 3 full points since Draghi promised at the end of last month to preserve the euro.

Oil prices slipped below $114 after sources told Reuters the U.S. was dusting off plans for a possible release of oil reserves.