Closing stock market indices

Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Tuesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: European stocks ended a touch higher, boosted by mergers and acquisitions, while investors looked to Wall Street for direction after data calmed US interest rate concerns.
Among major gainers, Gas Natural rallied after France's Suez said it planned to increase its stake in its Spanish rival, while take-over developments boosted both Reuters and Hanson.
"On a fundamental basis, the market is quite healthy, we don't see any bubbles right now. We have extremely high liquidity and M&A activity which is pushing markets further," said Philipp Musil, fund manager at Constantia Privatbank.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 7,505.35 points, up 45.74 or 0.61 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 6,049.76 points, up 23.34 or 0.39 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 9,391.03 points, up 3.74 or 0.04 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 34,031 points, up 218 or 0.64 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Shares fell 0.85 percent, as renewed worries about the US economy weighed on sentiment, while a slide in base metal prices pushed the top miners lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 53.9 points to 6,291.2, after rising 0.8 percent on Monday.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African stocks weakened slightly as electrical appliance maker Amap fell on a gloomy profit forecast and concern about bad debts hit retail shares. The All-share index closed at 28,059.27 points, down 35.53 or 0.13 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,716.36 points, up 45.58 or 1.71 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 19,428.51 points, down 71.14 or 0.36 percent.