Closing stock market indices

Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Thursday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: European shares fell as financial sector woes weighed on banks such as UniCredit while the high oil price took its toll on airlines and euro strength hurt exporters, notably carmakers.
Leading indexes trimmed steep intraday losses, however, after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said in a report released late in the European trading day that an end to writedowns was now in sight for big financial institutions.
Some strategists nevertheless warned that the negative impulses that have hammered stock markets for months could continue to haunt investors.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 6,500.56 points, down 98.81 or 1.50 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 4,630.19 points, down 66.91 or 1.42 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 7,251.73 points, up 6.69 or 0.09 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 24,445 points, down 380 or 1.53 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Australian shares fell 2.3 percent, erasing nearly all of the previous day's gains, as doubts over the US central bank's latest move to ease credit problems hit financial firms such as Macquarie Group. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 122 points to 5,135.9, after rising 2.4 percent in the previous session to log its biggest one-day percentage jump in four weeks.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African stocks followed international markets down, plagued by credit market woes despite central banks' recent cash injection moves, while the rand was weaker against the dollar.
The All-share index closed at 30,306.92 points, down 403.6 or 1.31 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,736.46 points, up 93.27 or 3.53 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 19,473.09 points, down 400.3 or 2.01 percent.