Closing stock market indices

Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Tuesday.
EUROPEAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: European shares fell 2.1 percent to a two-month closing low on mounting concerns that the financial sector will need more state help to emerge from a crisis that has threatened the survival of some large banks.
Britain's Lloyds plunged 31 percent, Belgian KBC Groep lost 24 percent and French banks took a hammering after Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said that all banks accepting a future tranche of state aid would need to limit dividend payments to shareholders and ban executive bonuses.
BNP Paribas fell 13 percent and Societe Generale lost nearly 14 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 16.75 points lower at 774.48. The index is down more than 7 percent already this year, after slumping 45 percent in 2008.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 4,239.85 points, down 76.29 or 1.77 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 2,925.28 points, down 64.41 or 2.15 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,321 points, down 60.37 or 1.12 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 14,359 points, down 176 or 1.21 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Stocks fell 3.14 percent to their lowest close in two months, led down by miners and banks as renewed fears over the state of the global economy cancelled out optimism over government rescue packages world-wide. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 112.7 points to 3,476.6.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South Africa's rand weakened as much as 2.5 percent to a month low against the dollar, tracking euro losses due to growing worries about the eurozone economy, while global financial woes dragged equities lower. The All-share index closed at 20,295.07 points, down 328.23 or 1.59 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,244.76 points, up 51.77 or 2.36 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 15,900.35 points, down 79.98 or 0.50 percent.