European stocks lost ground Wednesday, led lower by drops for Altice NV, Schibsted ASA and Barratt Developments PLC. Stocks in the travel sector also came under pressure after Thomas Cook Group PLC flagged a price battle in the Spanish market, though the energy sector found support thanks to rising oil prices.

The S&P 500 and the Dow ended slightly lower Wednesday, maintaining a soft tone after the Federal Reserve minutes indicated that an interest-rate hike is likely but the pace of future tightening could be more moderate than expected given muted inflation. The Nasdaq bucked the broader trend to finish at a record, logging its third gain in a row. The market is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.

Chinese stocks fell early Thursday on concerns about new regulations, while trading elsewhere in Asia was largely muted. The Shenzhen Composite 399106, -1.80% fell 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.03% slipped 0.5% after Beijing took steps to halt the proliferation of small online lenders. Declines in Chinese shares in early trading recently have often been short-lived; the Shanghai Composite has finished higher every day this week.