EUROPE STOCKS EXCHANGE: European shares fell, knocked off fresh 2-1/2 year highs by news that Royal Dutch/Shell cut its oil reserves for the fifth time in just over a year as corporate earnings dominated the day.
Shell dropped 1.7 percent in London, with Royal Dutch shedding 1.3 percent in Amsterdam. Technology was also down sharply, blighted by a 13.8 percent slide in French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel which posted quarterly earnings that missed expectations and trimmed its outlook. Shares in rivals Ericsson and Marconi also fell more than the broader stock market.
FRANKFURT STOCKS EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 4281.64 points, down 14.67 or 0.34 percent.
PARIS STOCKS EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 3928.94 points, down 22.78 or 0.58 percent.
ZURICH STOCKS EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5816.9 points, up 21.8 or 0.38 percent.
MILAN STOCKS EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 24282 points, down 13 or 0.05 percent.
SYDNEY STOCKS EXCHANGE: Australian stocks notched up a record-high close for a fourth-straight day on optimism ahead of the profit season and pervasive take-over talk. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index added six points or 0.14 percent to close at 4,151.3.
JOHANNESBURG STOCKS EXCHANGE: South African stocks steamed to an all-time closing high as a weaker rand boosted resource stocks, with Ispat Iscor up by nearly five percent on the back of surging world steel prices.
The All-share index closed at 13016.6, up 58.89 points or 0.45 percent, the Gold index closed at 1567.33, down 10.93 points or 0.69 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 9617.9, up 32.12 points or 0.34 percent.