European stocks lost ground Wednesday, with semiconductor company ASML Holding NV and brewer Carlsberg AS among the largest decliners.

The decline in the pan-European stock benchmark came as investors waited for clues about whether U.S. policy makers are ready to start raising interest rates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.83% fell 0.8% to close at 340.47, marking a fourth straight loss in a row.

U.K. stocks finished lower Wednesday amid sharp losses for miners on the back of weaker metals prices, offsetting better-than-expected labor-market data.

The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.50% dropped 0.5% to close at 6,859.15, its second-straight day of losses. The index on Tuesday fell 0.7%, breaking an eight-day winning streak, the longest run of gains since October 2015.

U.S. stocks closed slightly higher Wednesday after sharply paring earlier losses as minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed policy makers remained divided on prospects for a near-term rate increase.

Stocks bounced off session lows after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that with U.S. growth trending below 2%, interest rates can stay low.

Later, following a small pullback following the release of the Fed minutes, stocks had fluctuated between slight gains and losses after the minutes revealed that Fed officials were largely unchanged in their debate over interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.12% rose 21.92 points, or 0.1%, to close at 18,573.94, after being down as many as 83 points earlier in session.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.19% rose 4.07 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,182.22, overcoming an earlier 10-point deficit.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.03% finished up 1.55 points at 5,228.66, after being down about 30 points earlier.

Asian stocks rose and the greenback languished near two-month lows on Thursday after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed policymakers were in no rush to raise interest rates.

The July meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that Fed policymakers were generally upbeat about the U.S. economic outlook and labor market. But they also said they wanted to "leave their policy options open" as any slowdown in hiring would argue against near-term monetary tightening.

Market participants interpreted the minutes as moderately positive for risk-taking appetite, with the Fed remaining divided on the timing of the next rate hike. Futures contracts dipped slightly, signaling receding bets of a U.S. rate increase.