European Stocks Wobble Ahead Of Fed Rate Call

(RTTNews) - European stocks failed to sustain early gains and finished a bit lower Wednesday, as investors were cautious ahead of today's monetary policy decision from the U.S Federal Reserve.

Another batch of relatively upbeat earnings news from some major European countries was overshadowed by concerns about the global economy.

Markets fear the Fed will signal they are thinking about raising interest rates in the first half of 2015 despite low inflation on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Fed is also widely expected to announce the end of its bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks lost 0.45 percent, and is down about 2.8 percent year-to-date.

Around Europe, the German DAX inched up 0.16 percent, France's CAC 40 eased 0.05 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.81 percent.

Software AG shares gained 6.5 percent in Frankfurt. The business software firm backed its FY14 forecast after reporting a 2 percent decline in its third-quarter net income.

Airbus Group was up 1 percent. The company has partnered with India's Tata Advanced Systems to jointly bid for the Indian Air Force's Avro replacement program.

Deutsche Bank shares are declining 1.7 percent. The lender announced a management reshuffle after reporting a net loss of 92 million euros for the third quarter of 2014.

French banks also stuggled, with Soc Gen, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas all down more than 2 percent.

Schneider Electric S.A rose 2.45 percent in Paris after the French energy management firm confirmed its full-year targets.

Sanofi shares plunged 4.4 percent in Paris after the French drug maker removed the group's chief executive.

Shares of Fugro plumetted nearly 27 percent in Amsterdam as the Dutch marine-services firm warned of weaker-than-expected profit margins in the second half of the year, because of project delays and a rapid deterioration in market conditions.

In economic releases, French consumer confidence remained static at a low level in October, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed. The corresponding index came in at 85, unchanged from September and well below the long-term average of 100.

U.K. mortgage approvals decreased to 61,267 in September, the lowest level since July 2013, from 64,054 in August, a report from the Bank of England revealed. Economists expected approvals to fall to 62,000.

Eurozone banks expect demand for loans to increase across all categories in the fourth quarter, the bank lending survey from the European Central Bank showed Wednesday.