Closing stock market indices

Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: Carrefour led European shares higher, as the French retailer's promise of higher dividends proved irresistible, but telecoms fell on the prospect of a flood of France Telecom shares.
The FTSE Eurotop-300 index ended up 0.7 percent at 976.96 points, defying a surge in crude oil prices and signs that economic growth may be peaking.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 3,817.62 points, up 32.41 or 0.86 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 3,613.23 points, up 18.95 or 0.53 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,468 points, up 46.3 or 0.85 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 20,537 points, up 159 or 0.78 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Fired up by the strongest reporting season in four years, Australia's stock market rose to a record high, with strong gains in the big four banks helping lift the benchmark gauge up nearly 0.7 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 22.9 points, or 0.64 percent, at 3,575.6.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African banking and retailing shares jumped in the wake of rosy economic data, but Sasol slid after an explosion hit one of its gas plants, killing six workers.
The JSE All Share Index finished barely changed, down 15.32 or 0.14 percent to 11,145.12 points.
The All Gold index closed at 1,952.49 points, down 18.49 or 0.94 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 7,782.92 points, down 1.36 or 0.02 percent.