Indonesian stocks rose to a record as investors continued to warm to Indonesia's improving economic picture and the outlook for faster profit growth in the coming year.

The benchmark Jakarta Stock Market Composite index rose 7.42 points, or 1.08 per cent, to a record high 694.27. Leading the market higher were shares in large, heavily traded companies favoured by foreign investors. – Bloomberg. LONDON: British equities closed at a new high, having notched up yet another new intra-day peak around mid-morning yesterday.

The market was boosted by a fresh injection of institutional cash as traders took a positive view on the outlook for domestic and international interest rates.

The FT-SE 100 index settled 20.6 points better at a new closing high of 4281.5, after 4286.9. Volume at 4.48pm stood at 704 million, with 47686 trades executed. – AFX-UK. NEW YORK: The Dow Jones index of blue-chip stocks fell sharply on Wednesday before recovering somewhat to close 86.58 points lower at 6,746.90.

Sell-offs of high technology stocks contributed to the Dow's fall, which at one point was down 120 points from Tuesday.

Circuit breakers, which limit computerised trading when the Dow goes up or down more than 50 points, were activated about 45 minutes before the closing bell.

Trading was brisk with some 582 million shares trading hands. There were 1,611 losers compared to 908 gainers with 800 shares unchanged. – AFP. TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 0.8 per cent lower yesterday, with the Nikkei stock average hit by futures-led selling and declines among bank stocks, brokers said.

The leading barometer of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 147.54 points to finish the session at 18,038.43 points. The session low was 17,875.22 points.

The broader Topix index of all issues on the first section fell 5.52 points to end at 1,349.88.

An estimated 400 million shares changed hands on the major board, up from the previous day's 381.4 million shares.