LONDON - Britain's top share index ended slightly lower, as weakness in oil stocks outpaced firmer drugmakers, as the US House of Representatives approved a healthcare reform bill, and with miners also in demand. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,644.54 points, down 5.58 or 0.1 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares closed flat, with banks paring some earlier losses as worries over Greece eased, while drugmakers largely gained after the United States passed a healthcare bill which provided clarity for the sector.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed flat at 1,065.16 points after having traded as low as 1,052.04 points.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,987.5 points, up 5.07 or 0.08 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,928 points, up 2.56 or 0.07 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,866.43 points, down 14.33 or 0.21 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 23,121.95 points, down 57.25 or 0.25 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japanese markets were closed today for a national holiday. They will reopen tomorrow. On Friday, the Nikkei average rose 0.8 percent or 80.69 points to 10,824.72.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Shares of rate-sensitive property and banking shares led the benchmark index lower.

The Hang Seng Index ended down 2.05 percent or 437.57 points at 20,933.25, the lowest since March 5.

Turnover fell for a third day to HK$55.5 billion ($7.2 billion) from Friday's HK$58.7 billion.

"Market sentiment is not too good and the drop is driven by the interest rate hike in India," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Stocks snapped a four-day winning streak, dropping 0.86 percent, with miners losing ground as demand worries hurt commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index weakened 42.0 points to 4,830.2.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - The South African stock market was closed for a public holiday, Human Rights Day (Observed). On Friday, the All-share index closed at 28,544.15 points, down 261.99 or 0.91 percent on the day. The All Gold index closed at 2,231.09 points, down 12.64 or 0.56 percent. The Industrial index closed at 22,985.51 points, down 118.78 or 0.51 percent.