World stock markets rose Wednesday as investors brushed aside further dismal economic news ahead of key interest-rate decisions in Europe and the closely watched U.S. jobs report for November.

Late buying helped the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares to close up 47.10 points, or 1.1 percent, at 4,169.96, while Germany’s DAX was 35.45 points, or 0.8 percent, higher at 4,567.24. The CAC-40 in France was up 13.75 points, or 0.4 percent, at 3,166.65.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average finished up 172.60, or 2.1 percent, at 8,591.61. The Dow has gained more than 442 points in the past two sessions, recouping more than half of Monday’s nearly 680 point slide.

“Financial markets are expected to remain volatile for some time, as they take on board two sets of issues, the credit crisis and the economic crisis,” said Andrew Milligan, head of global strategy at Standard Life Investments.

A raft of data on the services sector Wednesday reinforced investor concerns about the U.S. and European economies.

In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said the services sector contracted dramatically in November as slower spending hurt insurers, retailers and hotels. It said its services sector index fell to 37.3 in November from 44.4 in October.

The reading was significantly lower than the 42 the market expected and means that the sector is in a deep recession. A reading below 50 indicates contraction and the lower the number, the greater the contraction.

“The steep drop in services industry activity in November is another sobering reminder of the potentially devastating consequences of the current long and painful recession,” said IHS Global Insight’s chief U.S. financial economist, Brian Bethune.

As a result, a number of analysts have lowered their expectations for Friday’s U.S. non-farm payrolls data, with some now projecting that around 350,000 jobs were lost in November. The consensus is that around 325,000 jobs were shed during the month.

The disappointing data was not just confined to the U.S., though.

The euro-zone service sector purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 42.5 in November, below the preliminary estimate of 43.3 and October’s 45.8. November’s reading was the lowest in the survey’s ten-year history.

Meanwhile, the equivalent survey into the British services sector was even worse. The PMI dropped to 40.1 in November from 42.4 the previous month. November’s reading was the lowest since the survey began in 1996.

Again, as in the U.S., a reading below 50 indicates contraction and the lower the number below 50, the greater the contraction.

The European data has stoked expectations that Europe’s two leading central banks may cut interest rates more aggressively on Thursday as the economic news keeps on coming in worse than anticipated.

While many observers think the European bank will reduce its benchmark rate by half a percentage point to 2.75 percent _ with some thinking it may cut by three quarters of a point _ the Bank of England is expected by many to lower its rate by a full percentage point to 2.00 percent, which would be equal to its lowest since the bank was founded in 1694.

Latin American markets rebounded from a morning decline after Wall Street investors calmly absorbed the latest evidence of a still-weakening economy.

Brazil’s Ibovespa index closed up 0.85 percent at 35,297, while Mexico’s IPC index rose 1.7 percent to 20,147. Argentina’s Merval index rose 1.9 percent to 970 but Chile’s IPSA eased 0.6 percent to 2,304.

Earlier, Asian markets advanced in the wake of the Dow’s 3.3 percent gain on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average up 140.41 points, or 1.8 percent, to 8,004.10. Benchmark indexes in Hong Kong, China, Australia, Singapore and India also inched higher as investors nibbled on shares after broad declines the day before.

Shares in Thailand rose 1.6 percent after a court ruling Tuesday dissolved the ruling party for electoral fraud, lancing weeks of heightened political tensions that culminated in protesters occupying Bangkok’s two airports. The country’s central bank also announced its biggest cut to interest rates in eight years.

South Korea bucked the trend with the key index down 0.1 percent and Taiwan’s benchmark fell 1.1 percent.

In currency trading, euro slipped to $1.2655 in late New York trading from $1.2697 it bought late Tuesday, while the British pound fell to $1.4722 from $1.4876. Meanwhile, the dollar edged down to 93.09 Japanese yen from 93.22 yen.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 17 cents to settle at $46.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude dipped to $46.26, the lowest level since May 20, 2005, when it traded at $46.20.

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AP business writer Kelly Olsen in Seoul contributed to this report.