LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters):

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

LONDON: The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares closed at 6,310.9 points, up 90.1 or 1.45 per cent, its highest level since January 2001.

EUROPE: European shares bounced to their highest close in almost six years, boosted by gains in mining and banking stocks.

FRANKFURT: The DAX index ended at 6,681.13 points, up 84.21 or 1.28 per cent.

PARIS: The CAC-40 index closed at 5,617.71 points, up 75.95 or 1.37 per cent.

ZURICH: The Swiss stock market was closed for a public holiday. On December 29 the Swiss market index closed at 8,785.74 points, down 17.52 or 0.20 per cent.

MILAN: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 32,248 points, up 356 or 1.12 per cent.

TOKYO: All Japanese financial markets are closed from Monday through Wednesday for New Year's holidays.

HONG KONG: The blue-chip Hang Seng index ended at 20,310.18, a rise of 345.46 points or 1.73 per cent, a hair below its all-time high of 20,323.59 hit in late afternoon trade.

SYDNEY: The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added just 0.3 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 5,670.2. The index also raced to its fourth straight life-high earlier in the day, climbing to a peak of 5,690.7.

JOHANNESBURG: Anglo American and fellow heavyweight miner BHP Billiton led the South African market higher, buoyed by strong metal prices which offset the negative impact of the stronger rand on dollar denominated earnings. The All-share index closed at 25,156.71 points, up 241.51 or 0.97 per cent. The All Gold index closed at 2,991.02 points, up 53.16 or 1.81 per cent, while the Industrial index closed at 17,999.91 points, up 174.27 or 0.98 per cent.