Closing stock market indices

Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: Miners and tech issues pushed European shares to a lower close, but hints by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that US interest rate hikes may not be imminent helped the market partly trim its losses.
Weak first-quarter production numbers knocked miner Rio Tinto 4.3 percent lower, while Anglo American also weighed on the sector, shedding five percent after part-owner AngloGold warned of weaker profits.
Positive earnings and outlooks lent some strength to the market, lifting stocks such as leading food group Nestle or trucks and engineering group MAN AG, while carmakers benefited from strong earnings and an improved forecast by industry titan Ford Motor.
Greenspan stole the show with an anxiously awaited testimony before Congress on the US economy, during which he confirmed investors' fears that a more vigorous economic expansion may require higher interest rates to keep prices stable in the world's largest economy.
But investors were partly relieved as Greenspan's comments that inflation should be contained for some time hinted that borrowing costs may not rise as soon as feared.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index ended off 0.9 percent at nearly 1,013 points, standing about 15 points away from its best levels for the year.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 4,026.15 points, down 34.98 or 0.86 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 3,743.15 points, down 30.28 or 0.80 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,795.1 points, down 34.1 or 0.58 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 21,141 points, down 114 or 0.54 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Stocks closed lower after a profit warning sparked a sell-off in packaging group Amcor, disappointing investors already unnerved by a fall on Wall Street.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 13.4 points or 0.39 percent to 3,438.8.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: Mining stocks like AngloGold stumbled, dragging the overall market down a percent, after prices for the precious metals they produce sank on the back of a stronger dollar.
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index, dominated by mining houses such as global giants Anglo American and BHP Billiton, closed 0.99 percent or 106.29 points down at 10,658.56 points.
The All Gold index closed at 1,929.46 points, down 56.63 or 2.85 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 7,506.45 points, down 20.06 or 0.27 percent.