Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 18, 2024
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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European stocks steady as STOXX 600 flat ahead of Fed decision. Renault jumps on merger talks, while FTSE 100 rises amid sterling pressure.
(Reuters) - European stocks were little changed on Wednesday as caution prevailed ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision and outlook, outweighing a rise in Renault on talks of a potential merger between carmakers Honda and Nissan.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was trading flat by 0813 GMT.
French carmaker Renault rose 6%, lifting automakers by 0.8%. The company owns a 36% stake in Nissan.
Food & beverage and healthcare stocks declined 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points later on Wednesday, in what some observers are calling a "hawkish cut", set to be delivered alongside policymakers' updated interest rate outlooks and economic forecasts.
The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% as sterling came under pressure ahead of the Bank of England's rate decision on Thursday.
Commerzbank jumped 3.7% after Italian bank UniCredit said it had raised its potential stake in the German lender to 28% by signing new derivatives contracts.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
The article discusses the STOXX 600's performance ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision and Renault's stock rise due to merger talks.
Renault's stock rose by 6% due to potential merger talks with carmakers Honda and Nissan.
The FTSE 100 rose by 0.2% as sterling weakened ahead of the Bank of England's rate decision.
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