European Stocks Fall on Fed; Resource Plays Weak

Equities in Europe opened weak after the Federal Reserve in the United States offered a downbeat view of the economy overnight, with falling commodity prices weighing on resource stocks.

At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX declined 0.7% to 0.9%.

Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata fell 1% to 1.3% while oil stocks BP, BG Group and Total were off 0.6% to 1.1%.

Shares in Ocado Group fell 3.7% after a broker downgrade while Lagardere gained 2.1% following an upgrade.

Elsewhere, Asian markets were broadly lower, tracking a negative close on Wall Street.