One day after carnage, U.S. stocks open higher

— -- One day after the historic carnage on Wall Street, U.S. stocks rebounded somewhat as markets opened, but stocks were volatile in Europe and fell in Asia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 170 points at opening as investors sifted through the rubble of Monday's 778-point plunge, the biggest single-day point drop in history. It continued upward, rising by 240 points within 10 minutes of opening.

A snapback of some degree on Wall Street wasn't unexpected as carnage often attracts bargain hunters. Still, questions remain about how investors will proceed without a bailout plan in place to absorb soured mortgage and other debt from banks' balance sheets and restore confidence in lending.

While U.S. political leaders have vowed to revisit the Monday's defeat of a $700 billion financial rescue package, the House isn't slated to meet again until Thursday.

President Bush again called for action early Tuesday. "I'm disappointed by the outcome (of the rescue plan) but I want to assure our citizens, and citizens around the world, that this is not the end of the legislative process," he said Tuesday in a brief White House appearance.

"Our economy is depending on decisive action from the government. The sooner we address the problem, the sooner we can get back on the path of growth and job creation," Bush said.

In Europe, Britain's benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, fell by as much as 3% in early trading, with particularly sharp declines in the banking sector. But the index of 102 companies then recovered, trading down only 0.15% at 4,811.33 by late morning.

Germany's benchmark DAX index fell nearly 1% to 5,756.87, while the Paris CAC-40 was barely down 0.20% at 3,946.00. Meanwhile, Russia's regulator was forced to halt regular trading in its two major markets on Tuesday morning after stocks plunged in the opening minute of trading.

In Ireland, the government guaranteed all the deposits and borrowings — worth around 500 billion euros ($717 billion) — of six of the country's major lenders. Ireland's ISEF Index of financial shares surged as much as 25% on the back of the guarantee, before settling to a rise of 12% by midmorning.