Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement, as well as the vote on Scottish independence scheduled on Thursday.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 retreated 0.42%, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.45%, while Germany’s DAX slid 0.36%.
Markets were jittery amid expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates this week.
The Fed was expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion at its upcoming policy meeting on Wednesday, which would keep it on track for winding up the program in October, and to start raising interest rates sometime in mid-2015.
Financial stocks were mostly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) lost 0.09% and 0.91%, although Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) rose 0.28%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) were down 0.04% and 0.37% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) fell 0.11% and 0.59%.
Elsewhere, Air France-KLM (PARIS:AIRF) plummeted 3.12% as pilots announced a week-long strike in a dispute over cost cuts.
Orange (PARIS:ORAN) shares tumbled 1% after the telecom giant offered to acquire Spanish broadband provider Jazztel (MADRID:JAZ) for about €3.4 billion.
On the upside, Publicis (PARIS:PUBP) saw shares rally 1.08% after the French advertising and public relations company said Chief Operating Officer Jean-Yves Naouri will be leaving the group and confirmed its growth targets for 2018.
In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.27%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in Barclays (LONDON:BARC) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) edged down 0.17% and 0.18% respectively, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) retreated 0.45% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) dropped 0.52%.
In the mining sector, stocks were also broadly lower. Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) slid 0.40% and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) lost 0.51%, while rivals Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) declined 0.37% and 0.75% respectively.
Thomas Cook (LONDON:TCG) added to losses, as shares plunged 5.64% after the travel agent said that high levels of market capacity has caused some price softness in the sector.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.15% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.10% loss, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.18% decline.