Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Tuesday, as investors grew cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated policy statement this week.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.54%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.63%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.45%.
Investors were looking ahead to Wednesday’s monetary policy announcement by the Fed for fresh indications on the timing of an initial rate hike.
Meanwhile, concerns over the outlook for growth in the euro zone persisted after data on Monday showed that the IFO’s business climate index for Germany fell to 108.2 from 108.5 in September, but was better than expectations for a reading of 107.8.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) dropped 0.50% and 0.54%, while Germany's Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) lost 0.68%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI) eased 0.08%, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) declined 0.56% and 0.73% respectively.
Elsewhere, Novartis AG (VX:NOVN) plummeted 2.37% after the Swiss drugmaker reported third-quarter profit that missed analysts' projections and agreed to pay $390 million to settle claims that it paid kickbacks to some U.S. pharmacies.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slid 0.41%, weighed by losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Glencore (L:GLEN) and Antofagasta (L:ANTO) tumbled 2.24% and 2.64% respectively, while Bhp Billiton (L:BLT) lost 3.18% and Anglo American (L:AAL) dove 3.60%.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower, as Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) fell 0.37% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) dropped 0.47%, while Barclays (L:BARC) declined 0.60%. HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) held steady, with shares inching up just 0.01%.
Meanwhile, BP (L:BP) was one of the top performers on the index, with shares rallying 1.50% after the oil and gas major after posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.21% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.24% slide.