The eastern market indicator (EMI) rose by 19 cents over the week to 484 cents a kilogram clean, reversing the strong price slide of recent months.

On last Thursday the EMI rose for the third successive day, gaining eight cents to 484 cents a kg, the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) said.

Wool's bounce this week followed a decline in the EMI in the previous week to 465 cents as the market approached its record low of 429.3 cents.

"The turnaround in prices this week was a positive change for the depressed wool market," woolbroker Wesfarmers Dalgety Ltd said in its market report on Friday.

"This week's results go a long way towards confirming the view that the market may well have bottomed out," Bob Quirk of The Australian Council of Wool Exporters, said.

"Many within the industry consider this week's rally in prices a short term change with new lows yet to beexperienced while others believe the market may have reached its low point and is now on an upward trend," Wesfarmers said.

"A depth of buying interest not seen in months was evident as the market remained firm to the close of selling despite a large roaster offering," it said.

Wesfarmers sees the market continuing to gain.

"The market has the potential to strengthen further," it said. "With good buying activity from Europe and China, supported by strong levels of enquiry from across the trade, the large offering next week in Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle is looking encouraging."

"In (the latest week's sales in) Melbourne and Fremantle, the middle-range microns experienced the largest gains with good European business a contributing factor," Wesfarmers said.

Visiting Italian customers combined with excellent quality wool on offer saw strong demand sustained throughout the three days of selling in New castle during the week, helping the market reverse direction, it said.

Quirk was also optimisticon the Chinese trade and on market effects of the stockpile sale freeze.

"While many problems remain with earlier reneged contracts, Chinese customers are opening letters of credit in respect of business written at recent price levels," he said.

"Further developments within the industry such as the freezing of stockpile sales has channelled an extra element of demand into the auction system, which has added to the widespread competition currently in the market," he said.

"With 112,819 bales rostered for sale in Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle next week the underlying strength in the market will be fully tested," he said.

The National pass-in rate in the latest week was 9.5 per cent, with 90,985 bales offered and 82,168 sold, AWEX said.