European stocks close mixed as traders await Fed

  LONDON: Europe's main stock market indices were mixed at the close on Wednesday as traders waited for Janet Yellen's first news conference as head of the Federal Reserve and digested Britain's Germany's DAX closed up 0.37 per cent to 9,277,05 points. However, France's CAC 40 was down 0.12 per cent, closing at 4,308.06 points and London's FTSE-100 index fell 0.49 per cent to finish at

Earlier report adds: European stock markets traded mostly higher Wednesday, awaiting the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting, while investors kept a close watch on the Ukraine crisis.
But London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.19 per cent to 6,593.00 points in afternoon trading despite upbeat British unemployment data and the government revising up its 2014 growth forecast to 2.7 per cent when it presented its latest budget.
The CAC 40 in Paris edged up 0.04 per cent compared with Tuesday’s closing values to 4,314.83 points, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 0.50 per cent to 9,288.47.
Madrid’s IBEX 35 index gained 0.50 percent while Milan shed 0.17 per cent.
Meanwhile: US stocks drifted lower at the opening of trade as they waited for Fed announcement.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.04 per cent to 16,329.87 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 also lost 0.04 per cent to stand at 1,871.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.07 percent to 4,330.12 points.
In foreign exchange trade, the euro slipped to $1.3917 from $1.3932 late Tuesday in New York. The pound jumped to 1.195 euros from 1.1908 and to $1.6631 from $1.6587.
On the London Bullion Market meanwhile, the price of gold fell to $1,346 an ounce from $1,355.75 Tuesday.