AKIPRESS.COM - Chinese stocks rose and the yuan strengthened Friday, a respite from the early-year meltdown that wiped as much as $1.1 trillion from mainland markets, after authorities overnight removed a mechanism blamed for triggering more volatility.

The Shanghai Composite Index finished up 2% at 3186.41 recovering from a 7% plunge Thursday. It finished down 10% for the week, its worst performance since the week finished Aug. 21, reports WSJ.

Elsewhere, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.9% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7%. But the Nikkei Stock Average and the S&P/ASX 200 both fell 0.4%.

The narrower gains and losses signal that markets are starting to stabilize after a global selloff overnight.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 1.2%.

Overnight, fears about China pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 400 points. Commodities also tumbled, including U.S.-traded oil and base metals like copper and nickel. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2.2% Thursday after declining as much as 3.6%.

Analysts and traders attributed the gains in Asia Friday to building optimism about a steadying Chinese yuan and measures from Chinese authorities to quell volatility, including a suspension of a circuit breaker system that exacerbated selling earlier in the week and suspended trading on Monday and Thursday.