6:30AM European markets trade in a tight range Wednesday on Fed meeting.
European markets were mixed by mid-morning on Wednesday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down less than 0.1% at 5,830, while the German DAX Xetra 30 index advanced 0.3% at 5,887 and the French CAC-40 index increased 0.2% at 5,124. Inditex fell 0.8% amid concerns about pressures on margins in the Spanish fashion retailer first-half results.

Other decliners included EADS falling 0.7%, following a report in Les Echoes that further delays in delivery of the A380 superjumbo were likely due to assembly problems. Euronex lost 0.8% and Deutsche Boerse slipped 0.4%. Aeroports de Paris lost 3.5% after it said its first-half net profit fell 49.2%.

SAP shares gained 1.8% in early Frankfurt trading after rival Oracle Corp. quarterly profit climbed 29% and as SAP predicted revenue growth for the period that was stronger than the current analyst expectation. Business Objects rose 1% and Cap Gemini increased 1.1%.

Oil slumped to its lowest since March, trading at $60.88 a barrel, after U.S. President George W. Bush supported a diplomatic effort to end a dispute over Iran nuclear program. Prices have fallen 21% the past two months. Gold was trading at $574.80 an ounce Wednesday, down $8.80 an ounce from Tuesday close of $583.60.

The euro fell slightly against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday ahead of a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank on whether to raise interest rates. In morning trading, the euro fell slightly to $1.2671, down from $1.2677 late Tuesday in New York. The British pound was unchanged at $1.8816 from the day before. The dollar slipped to 117.08 yen from 117.57 yen on Tuesday

5:00AM Precious metals fell across the board on Tuesday despite dollar weakness
The benchmark December gold ended $9.60 lower at $583.20 a troy ounce at the NYME. December silver closed 34.5 cents lower at $10.945 an ounce. October platinum settled $12 lower at $1,154.90 an ounce while December palladium was off $2.50 at $309.05 an ounce. December copper fell 3.90 cents to settle at $3.3755 per pound.

October crude oil ended down $2.14 at $61.66 a barrel, the lowest level for a front-month contract since March 22. October gasoline dipped 7.58 cents to settle at $1.5038 a gallon, the lowest level since Feb. 27. October heating oil lost 3.41 cents at $1.6916 a gallon. October natural gas finished up 6.4 cents at $5.006 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed up 1.15 cents at $1.0310 a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for October finished down 0.06 cent at 12.30 cents a pound.