European stocks close: stocks closed higher ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision tomorrow

Stock indices closed higher ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision tomorrow. The Fed's monetary policy meeting will start today. The results are scheduled to be released tomorrow at 18:00 GMT. According to analysts' forecasts, the Fed will not raise its interest rate in September due to concerns over a slowdown in the global economy and low inflationary expectations in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the economic data from the Eurozone was weak. Eurostat released its final consumer price inflation data for the Eurozone on Friday. Eurozone's final harmonized consumer price index was flat in August, in line with the preliminary reading, after a 0.6% drop in July.

On a yearly basis, Eurozone's final consumer price inflation fell to 0.1% in August from 0.2% in July, missing the previous estimate of a 0.2% increase.

Eurozone's consumer price inflation excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco declined to an annual rate of 0.9% in August from 1.0% in July, missing the previous estimate of 1.0% rise.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its labour market data on Wednesday. The U.K. unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in the May to July quarter from 5.6% in the April to June quarter. It was the lowest reading since 2008.

Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 5.6%.

The claimant count rose by 1,200 people in August, missing expectations for a decline by 5,000, after a decrease of 6,800 people in July. July's figure was revised up from a fall of 4,900.

U.K. unemployment in the May to July period rose by 10,000 to 1.82 million from the previous quarter.

Average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, climbed by 2.9% in the May to July quarter, in line with expectations, after a 2.8% gain in the February to April quarter. It was the highest gain since early 2009.

Average weekly earnings, including bonuses, rose by 2.9% in the May to July quarter, exceeding expectations for a gain of 2.5%, after a 2.6% increase in the February to April quarter. The previous three months' figure was revised up from a 2.4% increase.

The Bank of England monitors closely the wages growth it considers when to start hiking its interest rate.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,229.21 +91.61 +1.49 %

DAX 10,227.21 +39.08 +0.38 %

CAC 40 4,645.84 +76.47 +1.67 %