Closing stock market indices

Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 6,434.52 points, up 129.95 or 2.06 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 3,828.34 points, up 79.48 or 2.12 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 6,455.13 points, up 79.87 or 1.25 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The FT IT All Share index closed at 21,734.47 points, up 385.17 or 1.80 percent.
TOKYO STOCKS EXCHANGE: Japan's Nikkei average inched up 0.2 percent as an advance in US stocks and upbeat forecasts by Intel Corp brightened sentiment and prompted short-covering. The Nikkei ended up 14.87 points at 9,403.51. On Tuesday, it fell 2.1 percent in its biggest daily loss in a month.
HONG KONG STOCKS EXCHANGE: The property sector was firmly in focus, rising sharply in Shanghai on stabilising profits while Hong Kong shares hit a fresh 28-month high as developers recouped earlier losses. The Hang Seng Index recovered sharply from its losses at midday to close 1.4 percent higher at 23457. 69.
MELBOURNE STOCKS EXCHANGE: Australian stocks finished barely higher, giving up most of the day's gains as the big banks fell. The S&P/ASX 200 index picked up 1.7 points to close at 4,619.9, after trading up 0.8 percent earlier.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African assets rallied, with the rand currency and local stocks hitting their highest levels in more than two years, buoyed by upbeat economic data from China and expectations the US will take further steps to boost growth. The All-share index closed at 30,267.46 points, up 488.31 or 1.64 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,585.49 points, up 39.39 or 1.55 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 25,252.59 points, up 178.53 or 0.71 percent.