European stocks fall for first session in 5 after Fed's decision

European stocks fell on Wednesday, to head for the first daily loss in 5 days, and pull back from the 2-week high that was hit yesterday on profit-taking, after the market digested the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep the interest rate low in the next few years.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.8% as of 11:25 GMT, after it closed higher by 0.5% yesterday, and hit the 2-week high of 373.15 points thanks to a strong rally by retail companies after strong earnings results for the second quarter.

The pan European index opened lower today, to head for the first daily loss in 5 days on profit-taking, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green today.

The banking sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, dropping more than 1.8%, after Fed's new shift in the US monetary policy.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held the interest rate between zero and 0.25%, and signaled that it plans to keep it near zero at least until the end of 2023.

The US Federal Reserve confirmed that it remains committed to the current monetary policy to help that the labor market to reach full employment, and expressed that it will put up with the pressure resulting from the new inflation targeting strategy that will tolerate it above 2%.

S&P 500 futures fell over 1.5%, after the index closed lower by 0.5% yesterday at Wall Street, in its first straight daily loss in 4 days.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.9%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.75%, Germany's DAX dipped 0.7%, and the UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.5%.