HONG KONG (AP) — Global stock markets recovered their poise Wednesday but confidence remains fragile amid ongoing concerns over the global economy in the wake of the volatility in Chinese markets, and a possible U.S. interest rate rise later this month.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.1 percent at 6,062 while Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent to 10,038. France's CAC-40 was 0.2 percent higher at 4,552. Wall Street was poised for a solid opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.5 percent.

CHINA TRADING: The Shanghai market remained the focus across financial markets on Wednesday, the last day of trading ahead of a two-day "patriotic" holiday to celebrate Japan's defeat in World War II. The index opened more than 4 percent lower, turned positive by midday and then ended the day 0.2 percent lower at 3,160.17. The volatile trading led some analysts to suspect Beijing was intervening to prop up share prices heading into the holiday. Other signs that Beijing was stepping in included a China Securities Journal report that said nine brokerages have pledged at least 30 billion ($4.7 billion) more yuan for stock buying, adding to 100 billion yuan put up by 50 brokerages on the weekend.

ANALYST TAKE: "The closure of Chinese markets for the WWII commemorations offers a glimmer of hope that indices in the developed world can stage some sort of recovery, but weak economic data from the U.S., Canada and Australia over the past 24 hours confirms that the world has bigger problems than just China," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG.

GLOBAL OUTLOOK: After the release dismal manufacturing data from China and the U.S. on Tuesday, confidence over the state of the global economy was further hit by news that Australian growth faltered badly in the second quarter. Official figures showed growth at just 0.2 percent against 0.9 percent in the first three months of the year.

IMF PESSIMISM: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech in Indonesia that global economic growth is likely to be weaker than expected. Asia is still expected to lead global growth, but the pace is slowing and could sag further because of recent financial market volatility. "Overall, we expect global growth to remain moderate and likely weaker than we anticipated in July," Lagarde said. That reflects "weaker-than-expected recovery in advanced economies and a further slowdown in emerging economies, especially Latin America," she said.

US IN FOCUS: Over the rest of the week, the U.S. will likely become the main focus in markets. A raft of data culminates with Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for August. Many in the markets think that a strong number there will be all that is needed for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its next meeting on Sept. 17.

ASIA SCORECARD: Tracking Chinese shares, Asian benchmarks swung between gains and losses. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.2 percent to close at 20,934.94 while South Korea's Kospi ended nearly flat at 1,915.22. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4 percent to 18,095.40. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 crept up 0.1 percent to 5,101.50.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 96 cents to $44.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 66 cents to $48.90 in London.

CURRENCIES: The euro was 0.3 percent lower at $1.1260, a day ahead of the European Central Bank's latest policy meeting. The dollar meanwhile rose 0.4 percent to 120.11 yen.