Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Tuesday, according to Reuters. LONDON - UK stocks closed slightly lower as falls in the banking and telecoms sectors outweighed gains by oil explorer Cairn Energy after an upbeat statement and retailers Kingfisher and DSG International on bid talk. The FTSE 100 share index closed down 2.2 points at 5,950.6. EUROPE - European stocks rose to a 4-1/2 year closing high as a persistent stream of takeover news offset several disappointing corporate earnings outlooks. The market remained in the grips of frenzied merger speculation, with British retailers Kingfisher and Dixons jumping on talk that they might be taken over after rival Kesa Electricals snubbed a private equity bid. French utility Suez added 5.4 percent after Italian state-controlled utility Enel moved closer to launching a multi-billion euro bid despite Paris announcing a merger of Suez with state-controlled Gaz de France. Portuguese bank Millennium BCP rose 4.5 percent on expectations that its bid for local rival Banco BPI could still be thwarted by competing bids or by BPI shareholders. The M&A-fuelled optimism withstood earnings worries, sparked by Deutsche Post and Belgian biotechnology firm UCB, and an unexpected worsening in March of German investor sentiment according to a ZEW institute survey. --more 21 38 Local Time 18 38 GMT
