European stocks remain sharply lower, eyes on Fed; Dax down 0.93%

European stocks remained sharply lower on Tuesday, as risk sentiment weakened ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, amid ongoing uncertainty over the central bank's stimulus program. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plummeted 1.40%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.38%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 0.93%. 

Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Fed's July meeting, due out on Wednesday, for further indications as to when the central bank may start to unwind its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.

Expectations that the Fed may begin tapering as soon as next month were boosted after data last week showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to an almost six year low. 

Financial stocks pushed lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale dove 2.82% and 4.07%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank plummeted 2.13%. 

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander plunged 2.92% and 3.25% respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit lost 1.96% and 2.47%. 

Elsewhere, Deutsche Wohnen sank 3.33% after it offered to buy GSW Immobilien AG in an all-share transaction that would create the second-largest owner of German homes. 

In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.57%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower. 

Shares in HSBC Holdings retreated 0.43% and Barclays tumbled 1.72%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking plummeted 0.84% and 2.84%. 

Mining stocks added to losses, as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton plunged 1.30% and 3.08% respectively, while Glencore and Evraz saw shares dive 3.16% and 5.16%. 

Earlier in the day, Glencore reported first-half adjusted net income of USD2.04 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates for USD1.87 billion. The company also announced a goodwill impairment charge of USD7.7 billion arising from its purchase of Xstrata. 

In addition, BHP Billiton said full-year profit slumped 30% after prices declined. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.03% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% increase. 

Also Tuesday, official data showed that German producer price inflation dipped 0.1% in July from a month earlier and was 0.5% higher on a year-over-year basis. 

Economists had forecast a 0.2% month-over-month increase and a 0.7% annual gain.