The French market fell on Wednesday afternoon, as investors remained cautious amid the fall in oil prices and the currency crisis in Russia. Investors also turned their attention to the FOMC meet for clues on monetary policy.
The Russian rubble crashed to record lows against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday amid growing worries that a surprise interest-rate increase would not be enough to alleviate the pressure on the currency from tumbling oil prices and Western sanctions.
On the economic front, final data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone inflation came in line with flash estimate in November. Annual inflation came in at 0.3 percent in November, down from 0.4 percent in October. The November inflation matched flash estimate released on November 28.
The U.K. unemployment rate fell less than expected in the August to October period, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. The jobless rate fell to 6 percent during August to October, down from 6.2 percent seen in the May to July period. Economists had forecast a rate of 5.9 percent.
Bank of England policymakers decided to leave its key rate at a historic low of 0.50 percent in a split vote for the fifth straight time at the meeting held on December 3 and 4. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to retain its key rate at 0.50 percent. Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale sought a 25 basis-point hike for the fifth straight meeting.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was down 0.91 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, fell 0.60 percent.
The CAC 40 index fell 0.26 percent.
LVMH declined 8.2 percent, reportedly after a broker downgrade.
Lenders Credit Agricole and Societe Generale were losing 2.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. BNP Paribas was down 0.4 percent.
Technip is moderately higher after announcing a contract from India's ONGC.
Other markets in the region also fell.
The Asian stocks reversed early declines to end mostly higher, but the gains remained capped ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow dropped 0.7 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.9 percent.
Crude for January delivery fell $0.73 to $55.20 per barrel, while gold advanced $2.7 to $1197.0 a troy ounce.
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