Stocks turn lower ahead of Fed policy meeting

Source: AP-Excite

LONDON (AP) — Stocks markets turned lower in European trading on Tuesday, after gains in Asia, as investors braced for what the Federal Reserve might say on interest rates at its policy meeting this week.

KEEPING SCORE: In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was flat at 6,804.99 while Germany's DAX fell 1.5 percent to 11,989.66. France's CAC 40 was down 0.8 percent at 5,017.52. Wall Street was set for a tepid start, with Dow and S&P 500 futures down 0.3 percent.

FED WATCH: Whether the Fed will drop the word "patient" in describing its timetable for raising interest rates from a record low is a focal point for investors this week. Most economists expect the word to be removed from the statement the Fed will issue on Wednesday. But estimates of when the first rate hike will come are swinging between mid-year and later in the year. Weak U.S. economic data Monday pushed expectations toward later in the year. Last week, strong U.S. jobs had many picking mid-year. Stock markets have been boosted for several years by low interest rates.

CHINA CHEER: Chinese stocks extended gains a day after the market's key index surged to its highest level in more than five years. The rally was driven by hopes the government will announce new economic stimulus after Premier Li Keqiang said on the weekend it has plenty of room and options for boosting growth. China's economy, the world's second-largest, expanded at its slowest pace in nearly a quarter century last year.

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A currency trader sits in front of screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and foreign exchange rate at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Korea Exchange Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Asian stocks markets jumped Tuesday as investors cheered the prospect of stimulus in China and second guessed what signals the Federal Reserve will give on interest rates at its policy meeting this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.14 percent, or 42.58, to close at 2,029.91.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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