Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Thursday.
The market debut of Telecinco, Spain's largest commercial TV channel, soothed market jitters over the volatility of the initial public offering market.
Shares ended 18 percent above their IPO price of 10.15 euros. Serono bucked a weak European pharmaceuticals sector to gain 1.9 percent after European experts gave the Swiss biotechnology group's psoriasis drug Raptiva the green light, opening the door for up to $400 million in fresh revenues.
But Hanson fell 5.2 percent after the UK building material firm warned investors of a fall in first-half profits due to higher pension costs and a weak dollar.
An unexpected decline in US orders for durable goods in May, and a rise in US weekly initial claims for unemployment benefits pushed European stock indices off session highs amid concerns about potential cracks in the US economy's recovery.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips added 0.49 percent to 1,005.41, while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index rallied 1.03 percent to 2,822.35.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 19.2 points or 0.54 percent to 3,533.5.
The All-share index closed at 10,188.87 points, up 206.78 or 2.07 percent.
The All Gold index closed at 1,711.83 points, up 60.32 or 3.65 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 7,366.32 points, up 108.81 or 1.50 percent.