LONDON - Britain's leading shares faltered by the close as investors lost their nerve ahead of news from the US Federal Reserve, with banks and miners the biggest fallers. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,576.19 points, down 26.35 or 0.47 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST

EUROPE - European shares slipped, with investors cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, though gains in construction stocks after strong US housing data limited losses.

Technology stocks were also a drag on the market. Nokia fell 4.5 percent after the world's top cellphone maker said it would delay again its flagship smartphone N8 model.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 0.5 percent lower at 1,082.47 points.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 6,275.98 points, down 18.6 or 0.3 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,784.4 points, down 3.61 or 0.1 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,420.4 points, down 41.58 or 0.64 percent.

MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 21,302.65 points, down 10.49 or 0.05 percent.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei edged briefly to a seven-week intraday high before falling into negative territory in the face of profit-taking, with the dollar's struggles against the yen weighing on sentiment. The Nikkei ended down 0.3 percent or 23.98 points at 9,602.11.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng

HONG KONG - Shares in Hong Kong edged up to a five-month high, supported by property picks, while Shanghai shares ticked higher in light volume ahead of a long public holiday. The Hang Seng closed up 25.25 points at 22,002.59.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx

SYDNEY - Australian shares shed early gains to close slightly lower as investors sat on the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting expected to give further insights into the health of the US economy. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 13.85 points lower at 4,617.5.

@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa

JOHANNESBURG - South African rand firmed slightly against the dollar but was off its day's high after the IMF said it was over-valued.

The All-share index closed at 28,724.74 points, up 13.81 or 0.05 percent.

The All Gold index closed at 2,504.5 points, down 21.74 or 0.86 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 24,192.87 points, up 133.43 or 0.55 percent.