LONDON - Britain's top share index closed one percent down, coming off earlier lows, as weaker crude and metals weighed on energy stocks and miners. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,207.36 points, down 50.49 or 0.96 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares closed lower, with banks and oil stocks the major losers and Ericsson falling after disappointing results.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 1.1 percent at 1,014.72 points. The benchmark index is still up 57 percent from its lifetime low on March 9, but down 38 percent since reaching its mid-2007 peak.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,762.93 points, down 70.56 or 1.21 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,820.85 points, down 52.37 or 1.35 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,405.91 points, down 28.75 or 0.45 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 24,323.5 points, down 374.8 or 1.52 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.6 percent, with stocks hit across the board after US financial shares fell after a warning from a banking analyst and as wariness grew ahead of Japanese earnings. The Nikkei shed 66.22 points to 10,267.17.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Hong Kong and China stocks fell, weighed down by government comments that stirred concern about inflation and possible monetary tightening while economic data came in strong as expected, bolstering confidence in the economic recovery. The Hang Seng Index lost 107.59 points to close at 22,210.52.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Australian stocks dipped 0.5 percent with little direction from local companies in their quarterly updates and doubts about the US recovery weighing on stocks with big US arms. The S&P/ASX 200 index shed 25.8 points to end at 4,812.8, adding to Wednesday's 0.2 percent fall.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's rand reversed earlier sharp losses against the dollar, which were partly triggered by a report - later denied by the government - that it planned to freeze the currency.

The All-share index closed at 26,731.89 points, up 167.24 or 0.63 percent.

The All Gold index closed at 2,598.33 points, up 15.85 or 0.61 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 20,965.34 points, up 139.85 or 0.67 percent.