Europe midday: Shares muted ahead of Fed decision

(Sharecast News) - European shares tumbled from Monday's highs as investors took stock ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the week. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.27% to 575 at 1205 GMT. The benchmark hit a new intra-day high on Monday as hopes on a US-China trade deal boosted optimism.

Economists are expecting a 25-basis point cut from the Fed amid worries about inflation and a weaker job market due to President Donald Trump's global tariff war.

Meanwhile eyes will also be on a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday as the pair try to resolve their trade differences.

In economic news, German consumer sentiment is expected to deteriorate in November, according to a survey released on Tuesday by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

The forward-looking October consumer climate index fell to -24.1 from a downwardly-revised 22.5 in October and versus expectations for a reading of -22.0.

On the equities front, HSBC shares rose as net interest income came in above expectations and despite a $1.1bn hit from legal charges after the lender after lost an appeal in a long-running lawsuit in Luxembourg related to Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Shares in Novartis fell after the Swiss pharma giant posted earnings for the three months to September.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com