European stocks closed mixed this evening ahead of the results of a US Federal Reserve meeting. Commodity stocks came under pressure due to weaker crude and metal prices, but banks gained ground.
London's FTSE 100 was down 1.35% at 3,805 points. In Paris, the CAC dropped 0.25% to 2,760 points but in Frankfurt the DAX gained 0.21% to 3,996 points.
In Dublin, the ISEQ closed at 2110, up 25.22 points (1.2%). AIB closed down 3 cent at 52 cent. Bank of Ireland was down 3.5 cent at 36 cent and Irish Life and Permanent dropped 3 cent to close at 75 cent. Building group Kingspan lost 20 cent to close at €2.65
US stocks were mostly lower today due to profit taking after gains in five of the past six sessions. The Dow Jones was down 51 points at 7344, but the Nasdaq was up 6 at 1468.
Japanese shares ended at a five-week high earlier this morning, rising for the fourth day in a row as the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady at record lows of 0.1%. The Nikkei index gained 23 points (0.29%) to close at 7,972.
