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Closing stock market indices

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

FRANKFURT: Germany's DAX share index fell almost two percent on concerns about potential U.S. interest rate hikes, but tech stocks bucked the trend with software maker SAP AG surging to a life-time high. The benchmark DAX index closed Tuesday's session down 1.77 percent, or 122.35 points, at 6,809.64 with all but four of its 30 stocks ending the day in negative territory.

PARIS: Paris CAC ends lower amid interest rate jitters and fears that tech and media stocks are looking overvalued. The CAC-40 index closed at 5,597.5 points, down 93.36 or 1.64 percent.

ZURICH: The Swiss bourse extended its losses to close more than two percent lower amid continued weakness in most blue chips. The Swiss market index closed at 6,954.8 points, down 173.1 or 2.43 percent.

MILAN: Milan stocks closed lower in the absence of positive news to outweigh growing concerns about U.S. interest rates. The All Share Mibtel index closed at 28,191 points, down 574 or 2.00 percent.

AMSTERDAM: Dutch stocks close lower with investors concerned that U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates in early February. A lack of corporate news fails to provide strong direction. The AEX index closed at 640.03 points, down 5.5 or 0.85 percent.

SYDNEY: The Australian share market closed weaker as nervousness about higher interest rates plus an Australian public holiday on Wednesday sidelined many investors, said traders. The benchmark All Ordinaries Index closed down 18 points or about 0.6 percent at 3,078.6.

JOHANNESBURG: South African gold shares ended positive despite a 25 tonne gold auction by the Bank of England, but the overall tone of the market was weighed down by negative sentiment sparked by a sharp reverse in the Dow Jones index on Monday. The All-share index closed at 8,781.8 points, down 231 or 2.56 percent. The All Gold index closed at 1,136.8 points, up 3.8 or 0.34 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 9,671.6 points, down 325.2 or 3.25 percent.-Reuters