LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - European shares slipped early on Tuesday, on uncertainty over how aggressive the U.S. Federal Reserve will be on quantitative easing, with investors reluctant to take big bets ahead of the policy decision on Wednesday.
By 0804 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.1 percent at 1,086.51 points, with financials on the STOXX Europe 600 banking index down 0.8 percent.
"The markets had a good run anticipating QE and the issue is how much they (the Fed) commit to doing upfront," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin.
Among individual movers, heavyweight BP rose 0.9 percent after it lifted its estimate of the likely cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill by $7.7 billion to $39.9 billion but its quarterly results beat estimates. (Reporting by Harpreet Bhal)