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Closing stock market indices

LONDON: Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.

FRANKFURT - The German DAX index ended higher after spending most of the session in negative territory amid concerns of U.S. and euro-zone interest rate hikes.

At the close the DAX ended up 0.31 percent or 21.56 points at 6,912.81.

PARIS - French blue-chips ended a subdued session down 0.56 percent, curbing earlier losses as Wall Street opened firmer than expected, but once again victim to interest-rate jitters as bond yields stretched.

The benchmark CAC-40 closed off 31.40 points at 5,582.50.

ZURICH - A rise in selected index-heavy defensive stocks such as Nestle SA and technical factors helped Swiss shares overcome early weakness, but the recovery was shaky.

The blue-chip Swiss Market Index (SMI) ended up 20.1 points or 0.27 percent at 7,440.2 points.

MILAN - Milan bourse indices made a late comeback to end over one percent higher after spending most of the session in negative ground amid profit taking on recent gainers.

The Mibtel all-share index closed 1.12 percent or 305 points up at 27,503.

AMSTERDAM - Fears of interest rate rises, fuelled by union wage-hike demands in Germany and comments by Fed officials indicating a tightening as early as next month, pushed Dutch shares lower.

The blue chip AEX index closed 1.62 percent or 10.54 points lower at 638.40.

SYDNEY - Investors wiped out nearly all of the gains made on the local share market during Tuesday, focussing on Rupert Murdoch's media empire News Corp Ltd and big mining stocks.

The benchmark All Ordinaries Index closed down 60.0 points or 1.9 percent to 3,104.6.

JOHANNESBURG - South African shares ended lower for the first time in five sessions, taking a rest from a breathless new year rally that has swollen the bourse by more than five percent in a week.

The benchmark All-Share index ended down 56.7 points or 0.63 percent at 8,946.3, the Industrial index shed 33.8 points or 0.35 percent to 9,647.3, while the Gold index bucked the weaker trend to add 1.01 percent or 11.2 points to 1,119.7.-Reuters