LONDON - Britain's top shares registered sharp losses, after underwhelming Q4 figures from top US banks and more signs of fiscal tightening in China led to deep falls in commodity and bank stocks.

The FTSE 100 closed down 92.34 points, or 1.6 percent, at 5,420.8.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares hit a three-week closing low as banks came under pressure after worse-than-expected earnings from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley and commodity shares slipped.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 1.5 percent lower at 1,052.53 points, its lowest closing level since December 31 last year.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,851.53 points, up 124.95 or 2.09 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,928.95 points, down 80.72 or 2.01 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,586.53 points, down 47.33 or 0.71 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 23,582.35 points, down 557.38 or 2.31 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.3 percent as Nomura Holdings and other securities firms slid after a brokerage downgrade, while investors held back as the earnings season approaches.

The Nikkei shed 27.38 points to 10,737.52, after eking out small gains in earlier trade.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's index fell 1.81 percent to a near one-month closing low, led by mainland banks on news that China's banking authorities have told some major banks to curb lending, clouding their outlook.

The Hang Seng Index ended down 391.81 points at 21,286.17.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Australian stocks edged up 0.1 percent, giving up a large part of their early gains, after China asked some major banks to stop lending to cool a surging economy, unnerving investors.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 6.95 points to 4,868.19.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa assets took a knock along with other emerging markets, with lower platinum prices hitting shares and the currency and soft retail sales numbers pointing to a slow economic recovery.

The All-share index ended down 0.66 percent at 27,901.74 points. The All Gold index closed at 2,337.45 points, down 45.5 or 1.91 percent, the Industrial index closed at 21,312.95 points, down 8.51 or 0.04 percent.