Closing stock market indices

Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: Chemicals group Bayer led European shares to a firmer close but worries about persistently high oil prices and a lacklustre performance on Wall Street tempered gains.
GlaxoSmithKline also weighed as it fell 2.9 percent to 1,111 pence after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he was suing the London-listed drug-maker for fraud over its anti-depressant, Paxil.
Fiat continued to motor ahead, however, adding 6.3 percent to 6.38 euros on hopes of a quick turnaround for the Italian carmaker.
The gains followed a near-five percent rally on Tuesday, driven by the appointment of Sergio Marchionne as chief executive.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 3,888.31 points, up 24.13 or 0.62 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 3,646.23 points, up 21.76 or 0.60 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,631.7 points, up 42.2 or 0.75 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 20,566 points, up 90 or 0.44 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Australian stocks climbed to fresh two-year highs, fuelled by oil stocks such as Woodside Petroleum which continued to advance on the back of higher oil prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 19.8 points, or 0.57 percent, at 3,476.8.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African shares eked out modest gains after data showed South Africans are still spending, with gains in banking and industrial shares helping to offset declines in mining stocks.
The All-share index closed at 10,317.88 points, up 9.41 or 0.09 percent.
The All Gold index closed at 1,847.61 points, down 56.66 or 2.98 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 7,416.06 points, up 91.34 or 1.25 percent.