Fed’s next meeting in focus

LONDON — European stocks opened lower on Monday as global markets contend with concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tapering timetable.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down by around 1.5% in early deals with basic resources and banks leading the losses.

The lower open for Europe come as global stocks continue to struggle in September, traditionally a weak month for markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing three straight weeks of losses for the first time in 2021.

Global markets are also experiencing some jitters ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated September meeting, which starts Tuesday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference Wednesday at the conclusion of the two-day meeting with investors keen to pick up any indications about the Fed’s tapering of its easy monetary policy.

Powell has said the tapering could occur this year but investors are waiting for more specifics, particularly after mixed economic data released since Powell’s last comments. U.S. stock futures were mixed in overnight trading Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses among Asia-Pacific markets in overnight trade on Sunday, with shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group continuing to drop. Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea are closed on Monday for holidays.

There are no major earnings releases in Europe on Monday, but data releases include U.K. house price data for September and German producer prices for August.

– CNBC’s Hannah Miao and Eustance Huang contributed to this market report.