Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday, according to Reuters. LONDON - Britain's FTSE 100 index scored a fresh near five-year closing high, boosted by mining stocks as the copper price jumped, while takeover talk elsewhere continued to bubble. The FTSE 100 closed 14.5 points or 0.24 percent higher at 5,965.1, edging closer to the 6,000 level which it has not crossed since March 2001. EUROPE - Rallying mining and oil stocks helped to nudge European stocks closer to a five-year high, while merger and acquisition activity also provided a boost. Portugal's Millenium BCP was a standout gainer on talk of a counter offer from Banco BPI, while upbeat earnings forecasts for BMW pushed carmakers higher. "Earnings data is very strong. The numbers that are coming out are very much in line or above expectations," said Khuram Chaudhry, a European strategist at Merrill Lynch. "We can understand why markets are more positive, coupled with higher risk appetite and M&A fever out there," he said, adding that the number of analyst earnings upgrades boded well. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed up 0.2 percent at 1,368.44, its highest since July 2001. The index is up 7 percent so far this year. --More 21 25 Local Time 18 25 GMT
