European equities closed lower on Monday, with markets unnerved by election results in Europe, ahead of a US interest rate decision later in the week.The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.89 points, 0.2%, at 8,228.48. The FTSE 250 ended down 109.33 points, 0.5%, at 20,446.04, and the AIM All-Share fell 5.25 points, 0.7%, at 788.28.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 820.02, the Cboe UK 250 also fell 0.

Britain's second-biggest department store operator Debenhams (DEB) claims to be making steady progress in implementing its new strategy. But investors are likely to focus on caution over the UK trading environment, which the company describes as 'more volatile.' That sends the shares more than 3% lower in early trade on Tuesday, to 43p.UK oilfield services company Petrofac (PFC) has enjoyed a busy

The FTSE 100 is flat at just below 7,000 at the start of the new trading week. The corporate agenda is dominated by activity in the oil and gas sector.BP (BP.) has made several interesting moves. It has taken 10% stakes in Abu Dhabi's ADCO onshore oil concession and the operating company. BP will issue $2.3bn in shares to the Abu Dhabi government.BP will also buy a 62% stake in exploration project