LONDON, Sept 12: European stock markets slightly up on Tuesday, mirroring small gains won by Wall Street overnight. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares climbed 0.05 per cent to 5,853.90 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 increased 0.14 per cent to 5,806.54 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index advanced 0.25 per cent to 5,070.99.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares won 0.25 per cent to 3,751.25 points.

The euro stood at $1.2713.

US stocks had ended a little higher on Monday having traded lower for much of the day.

Japanese share prices fell on Tuesday, closing at a one-month low point after a major fall in machinery orders dented sentiment for the second straight day, dealers said.

The bad news at home limited the impact of a steady Wall Street performance overnight and a further retreat in crude oil prices, they added.

The fall in prices of commodities led to sharp drops in related shares which had been at the forefront of the market's recent gains.

Mining shares, meanwhile, continued to fall heavily on the FTSE 100 in London, but overall the index rose early on Tuesday, helped in part to Sage Group.

The software company jumped 2.27 percent to 247.5 pence following positive broker comment.

Gaz de France was an early leader on the CAC 40 in Paris, climbing 1.66 per cent to 29.35 euros after announcing that its net profit had surged by 44.0 per cent to a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.16 billion) during the first half.

In Frankfurt, German pharmaceuticals specialist Schering was booted out of the mid-cap MDAX index, only days after being kicked out of the German stock exchange's blue-chip DAX 30.

Originally, Schering was to have been relegated to the MDAX because its takeover by chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer meant it no longer fulfilled the key market capitalisation criteria for DAX membership.

But stock market operator Deutsche Boerse said Schering has failed also to meet the necessary criteria for inclusion in the MDAX.

Meanwhile across the Atlantic on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.04 per cent at 11,396.84 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.34 per cent to 2,173.25 points.

The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 0.05 per cent to 1,299.54.

Sentiment had been subdued for much of the day as Wall Street joined the rest of the United States in marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index ended down 0.48 per cent at 15,719.34 points, the weakest closing level since August 11.

Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index gained 0.75 per cent to end at 17,075.40 points, led by property stocks.—AFP