European stocks remain lower ahead of Fed statement; Dax down 0.26%

European stocks were lower on Tuesday, despite upbeat euro zone economic sentiment data, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated two-day policy meeting this week. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.43%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.41%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.26%. 


Data showed that German economic sentiment improved significantly more-than-expected in September, rising to the highest level since April 2010. 

In a report, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment rose by 7.6 points to hit 49.6 in September from August’s reading of 42.0. Analysts had expected the index to rise by 4.0 points to 46.0 this month.

The index of euro zone economic sentiment jumped to 58.6 in September, the highest reading since September 2009 and up from 44.0 in August. Economists had expected euro zone economic sentiment to rise to 47.2 this month. 

But markets were jittery ahead of the outcome of the upcoming Fed meeting, after a recent series of lukewarm U.S. data raised doubts over whether the central bank will start to taper its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program. 

Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas slid 0.40% and Societe Generale edged up 0.08% in France, while Germany's Deutsche Bank declined 0.66%. 

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander retreated 0.66% and 0.78% respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo declined 0.66% and Unicredit rose 0.29%. 

Elsewhere, Air France-KLM tumbled 1.01% amid reports it is reviewing provincial bases in southern France created just a year ago as the airline company grapples with losses that caught it by surprise. 

In London, FTSE 100 shed 0.50%, still weighed by losses in financial stocks, while data showed that U.K. consumer inflation slowed in August.

Shares in HSBC Holdings retreated 0.97% and the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.91%, while Lloyds Banking and Barclays plummeted 1.90% and 2.36%. 

Earlier in the day, the U.K. government sold a GBP3.2 billion stake in Lloyds Banking, in a first step toward full private ownership of Britain’s largest mortgage lender. 

Mining stocks added to losses, with Glencore Xstrata plunging 2.59% and Polymetal down 1.74%, while Vedanta Resources and Evraz saw shares dive 2.61% and 3.07% respectively. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.05% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% fall. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on consumer price inflation.