European shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday in thin trading volumes, as investors eagerly awaited clues from the U.S. Federal Reserve about whether or not it will soon start to wind down its stimulus measures.
_0">The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally closed 0.2 percent lower, at 1,180.73 points, after spending the session in a tight range.
Investors avoided increasing their exposure to equities ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's decision on the quantitative easing programme, and ahead of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference, both due after European markets' closing bell.
The Fed will likely say that it will keep buying bonds at a monthly pace of $85 billion, while keeping its options open to trim the programme later in the year if the U.S. labour market continues to pick up.
"Stocks have sharply dropped since late May, with the market now pricing in a cut of $20 billion in September or October on the amount of bonds bought every month," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities.
"So in terms of positioning, the risk for equities ahead of the FOMC is neutral to slightly on the upside, I'd say."
Nokia featured among the biggest gainers, up 3.4 percent after an executive from China's Huawei Technologies said the firm was "open-minded" about the possibility of buying the Finnish mobile phone group, even though Huawei later clarified it had no plans for an acquisition.
Southern European banking shares were among the biggest losers, with Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo down 3.1 percent and Spain's BBVA down 1.5 percent.