Closing stock market indices

Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: European shares ended mixed with travel firms hit, as investors feared pressure on corporate profits from record high crude oil prices, while AstraZeneca fell 3 percent as it delayed a key drug.
Fuel users British Airways lost 1.1 percent to 207-1/2 pence and budget carrier Ryanair shed 3 percent.
Shares in struggling German retailer KarstadtQuelle fell 9.5 percent after private equity firm Blackstone said it was not considering a bid and Karstadt itself also said selling the group as a whole was out of the question.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips ended 0.05 percent lower at 1,015.26 points, snapping a three-day rally during which it put on 3.0 percent.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 4,049.66 points, up 0.95 or 0.02 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 4,049.66 points, up 0.95 or 0.02 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,593.9 points, down 3 or 0.05 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 21,546 points, down 22 or 0.10 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Stocks closed at a record high for a third straight session, gaining just 0.06 percent after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged in a widely expected move.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index put on 2.3 points to close at 3,699.8.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: Gold and platinum stocks lifted the market after the metals rallied in New York overnight while telecoms firms MTN and Telkom provided a further boost.
The All-share index closed at 11,925 points, up 67.99 or 0.57 percent.
The All Gold index closed at 2,134 points, up 43.61 or 2.09 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 8,282.85 points, up 5.56 or 0.07 percent.