Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.33 percent at 830.58 points, after Tuesday's 0.6 percent gain and Monday's surge of nearly 9 percent. It recorded a second-biggest one-day percentage rise on record. The index is down 44.6 percent so far this year, hit by the credit crisis and the global economic slowdown.