You could hear a pin drop in Europe right now

Ahead of the most anticipated US Federal Reserve interest rates decision in years at 7pm BST (2pm ET), European stock markets are understandably muted on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 just closed down 0.68%, or 42.22 points down at 6186.99. It was a slow and steady slide all day, but the index is still higher than when it ended last week.

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It's a big contrast to the volatility the FTSE has seen in the last month or so.

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London's drop isn't particularly spectacular but even that is pretty spicy compared to what's going on elsewhere in Europe - Germany's DAX is up a paltry 0.09%, France's CAC-40 has a 0.25% rise, and the Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.16%.

Basically nobody knows which way to trade. It's totally unclear what Fed chair Janet Yellen will decide on rates, so nobody has enough conviction to lay down bets. It's sit on your hands time.