Closing stock market indices

Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: European stocks fell for a second day in a row, hit by ongoing concern about the extent of the crisis in the US subprime mortgage market and by the euro's acscent to fresh record highs.
Banks and oil companies were the biggest negative weights on the broader equities market, yet merger activity was never far from the fore, this time with Britain's Imperial Tobacco agreeing to buy Franco-Spanish rival Altadis. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended at 1,602.97 points, down 1.2 percent.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 7893.61 points, down 144.6 or 1.80 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 5995.97 points, down 103.24 or 1.69 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 9074.07 points, down 145.25 or 1.58 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 32834 points, down 251 or 0.76 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Shares fell 0.82 percent to a one-week closing low, led by Woodside Petroleum and other energy firms on lower oil prices, while mixed base metals prices pressured mining firms. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 52.5 points to 6,329.1, after inching up just 0.8 point in the previous session.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: Mining groups Anglo American and BHP Billiton led South African shares lower over jitters of economic slowdown in the US and China, but gold shares soared on the metal's price. The All-share index closed at 29422.66 points, down 183.56 or 0.62 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2728.75 points, up 32.28 or 1.20 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 20262.73 points, down 12.62 or 0.06 percent.