AlQa'dah 21, 1435, September 16, 2014, SPA -- Global shares slipped to a one-month low on Tuesday as markets braced for a Federal Reserve meeting, when investors will be looking for clues on whether the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates sooner than previously expected, Reuters reported. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, was down 0.2 percent after hitting its lowest level since mid-August earlier in the session. In Europe, the benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.4 percent. Speculation that the Fed could raise interest rates sooner and faster than previously expected has rattled share markets around the globe and supported the U.S. dollar. Asian shares also slipped. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.7 percent to its lowest since late June, while Japan's Nikkei snapped a five-session winning streak to close down 0.2 percent. In the currency market, the dollar index, which hit a 14-month peak on Sept. 9 and is on its longest weekly winning streak since 1997, was almost unchanged at 84.272. The euro held steady at $1.2937, hemmed in a $1.2859-$1.2980 range after a sell-off sparked by the European Central Bank's interest rate cut early this month faded. Traders awaited the German ZEW sentiment data, due at 0900 GMT, for hints about the single currency's outlook in the near term.
