- Investors eye US monetary policy decision
- Italy's benchmark falls on confidence index
- Europe's economic confidence improves
- Spain reveals worse-than-expected contraction


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European equities were trading lower at the midday mark Wednesday as investors awaited a monetary policy decision from the US.

The Federal Open Market Committee is due to reveal its plans at 19:15 after a two-day meeting in Washington. While the decision will be closely watched, analysts have labelled it as the most anticipated "non-event" of the week.

Meawhile, Italy's FSE MIB benchmark plunged as the Italian Statistics office ISTAT's business confidence index for the month of January fell to 88.2 (consensus: 89.5) after a reading of 88.9 in the previous month.

Elsewhere in the country a shock profit warning came from oil services firm Saipem. Shares were suspended as the Italian group forecast an 80% fall in earnings.

The announcement hit the oil services sector which was expected to grow 35.3% year-on-year in the coming quarter, according to Thomas Reuters data.

More promising news for the Eurozone came from data revealing a rise in economic confidence.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment climbed to 89.2 from a revised 87.8 in December, the European Commission in Brussels said Wednesday.

The results pointed to signs the 17-nation currency bloc may be emerging from a recession.

Spain reveals worse-than-expected contraction

Spain reported worse-than-expected contraction of its economy during the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to the preliminary data from the INE (government statistics office), Spain's economy fell 0.7% during the quarter, compared to the prior drop of 0.3%. Consensus had expected a contraction of 0.6%.

It comes as the Spanish government grapples with the implementation of austerity measures required as part of its Eurozone bailout.

In a separate report, the country's autonomous community Catalonia has asked for more bailout funds from the central government.

The Catalan regional government requested €9.1bn for 2013, compared with the €5.37bn it asked for last year.

Euro strengthens

The euro topped $1.35 for the first time since December 2011, while the Eurozone single currency reached its highest level since April 2010.

Brent crude features ascended 0.453 dollars to the 114.880 dollar mark on the ICE following a flat start.

RD

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