(MENAFN- AFP) European stock markets dropped on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to a policy meeting of the Federal Reserve and the looming referendum on Scottish independence.
Shares in Spanish fixed-line operator Jazztel meanwhile soared, a day after French telecom giant Orange made a 3.4-billion-euro ($4.4-billion) for the firm against a background of restructuring in the European telecom sector.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.63 percent to 6,761.32 points around midday in the British capital.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 fell 0.38 percent to 9,622.66 points and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.51 percent to stand at 4,405.88 compared with Monday's close.
Sterling and the ruble fell, and the euro firmed.
US stocks had finished mixed on Monday, with investors cautious ahead of the two-day monetary policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee that starts later on Tuesday.
"There are a whole host of key risk events as we know dominating the agenda for the markets this week, with the Scottish independence vote as well as the FOMC," said James Hughes, chief market analyst at Alpari traders.
"We may well be looking at a calm before the storm in terms of markets before we get to the big risk events, but before that we do have a huge amount of numbers."
Investor sentiment in Europe's biggest economy, in Germany, fell for the ninth month in a row in September amid jitters about the economic fallout from global crises, a survey indicated on Tuesday.
The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 1.7 points to 6.9 points in September, it said in a statement.
On the corporate front, shares in Jazztel surged 5.65 percent to 12.72 euros in afternoon trading. Madrid's benchmark IBEX 35 index fell 0.42 percent.
- British inflation slows -
In Britain, 12-month inflation dipped to 1.5 percent in August from 1.6 percent in July, official data showed, easing pressure on the Bank of England to raise it record-low interest rate that stands at 0.5 percent.
Attention was focused on Scotland, two days before the country votes on whether to split from the rest of Britain.
Polls have showed a late surge in support for independence, putting the outcome on a knife edge, after the "No" being ahead for many months.
The British pound last week slumped to 10-month dollar low and three-month euro troughs on fears over the impact of Scottish independence.
In Tuesday trading, the pound slid to $1.6178 from $1.6234 late in New York on Monday.
The euro climbed to 80.01 pence from 79.71 pence.
The European single currency rose to $1.2944 from $1.2940 on Monday.
The ruble fell to a record level of 38.82 rubles per dollar after weakening on Monday to below 38 against the dollar for the first time.
And it broke through the symbolic level of 50 rubles per euro for the first time for several months.
The ruble has slumped as investors fret about the impact of ever more stringent Western sanctions on the economy, which is already teetering on the verge of recession.
On the London Bullion Market, gold gained to $1,239.37 an ounce from $1,234.25.
- Unease over Fed -
Asian stock markets slipped on Tuesday before the Federal Reserve's meeting, and as lingering concerns over Chinese and US economic data weighed on global markets, dealers said.
The US central bank might adjust its timing for raising benchmark interest rates, as critics say its nearly six-year-old zero rate policy is feeding asset bubbles and possibly inflation.
The Fed has previously said it would keep interest rates low for a "considerable time" after ending its massive stimulus programme, based on continued weakness in the labour market.
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